1. She looked and liked what she saw of his beauty,
And I looked at my worn-out rags.

2. She saw he had a shoulder that strained at his belt
And legs well-formed, though his sandals were rent.

3. A guest who would take any branch offered -
Like a rain tank or an abandoned palace.

4. I saw my sagging tent braced,
Its ropes slack, its leather panels cracked.

5. I brought my shaven hocks near him, as though
I brought scorpions and snakes to his head.

6. Learn that regret and disgrace will be yours
If you had endured me empty so long.

7. Why did you turn your head away behind me
Thinking a maiden was behind?

8. Go, for you are as good as dead, beyond hope,
If you lived for years.

9. You are self-delusion, if that could cure,
Though sometimes self-delusion may heal.

10. But my helplessness cannot avail you,
Until I become a brother to one more powerful.

11. O camel who has wronged me,
Exposed me, and scared away the mother of my children.