1. She blames me for prolonging estrangement, and reproaches me with slander, blame and disdain.
Yet I did not say she was articulate, except by way of simile and metaphor.

2. She felt pity when she saw me in the grip of cruel time, without money or means.
And she frankly told me something I dislike:

3. "Your youth has passed, so you have indulged in idleness.
Where is your drive for pleasures, and your ambition in your early days?"

4. So I said, "Reproach me if you wish, for time has let me down, or say I have little wealth, for I do not debase myself."
The hand of time has not stripped me unjustly, for fate varies money and power.

5. Do not wonder at my lack of ambition, when my soul desires what is not destined for me or within my hopes.
Man is limited by his nature, by the unseen sustenance and appointed term.

6. If the days have exposed me to misfortune, closing off sources of wishes and unleashing afflictions,
The cloud may hide the eye of the sun, then is seen to have passed from it, while the sun's eye did not waver.

7. I am not the first to be consumed by the turning of time, without begging or submitting.
Such is my nature, in hardship and in ease; they do not change in my days of sorrow or joy.

8. I stand balanced in my nothingness, like a sword in its scabbard, neither shortening nor prolonging.
If I had abundant means, I would not have excelled in generosity or restraint.

9. When livelihood is straitened, and remains constricted for a long time, like a lion trapped,
I make it wider through contentment, preserving my nobility, and restraining the flow of my tears.

10. For death is easier for me than demanding from myself the attainment of water from a miser.
I have touched all manners of tribulation, of subtlety and gravity.

11. I have not grieved at refusing a request, or been roused against an adversary in dread.
I have not blamed, nor have I been blamed, which is enough virtue in word and deed.

12. I have gained nothing dishonestly, always inclining to what is right, not caring.
I have not clung to anything objectionable, or been saddened by the turning away of a bosom friend.

13. My soul will leave my body equitably, so why would I grieve for one lacking balance?
No friend of mine has shunned me, but I have turned to some manner of estrangement.

14. So I said to myself, “Be as you were after his aloofness, for the familiar is not within reach.”
I have undertaken no matter beyond my strength, without seeking the aid of an unfailing ally.

15. I have not spied on the flaws of a neighbor out of spite, nor wept for an abode or encampment.
I have not awaited changing fortune through hopes, for I am busy with my day.

16. I have not praised a generous man for his generosity, hoping for gain, or allied myself with the lowly.
Since I came of age, though heedless in my youth then mature,

17. Each person’s virtues proceed according to his nature, be he noble, free, or refined.
The despicable and obscene have adopted their manners, and so deserve blame for vileness.

18. God has appointed for people degrees He carries out; were there no coward, none would praise the brave.
If they agreed to do good of their own accord, flowing like a willing horse, not inclining to stinginess,

19. So the man of merit whom we praise has a course characterized by insight without blemish.
I and other people have only the hopes that desire dresses in fine garb and rags.

20. When I am free of desires, and destitution prevents me out of shyness,
Then all people are to me equal in their stations; neither my she-camel nor my camel has risen above them.

21. I pardoned their rights over me and deferred to what they are owed, neither favoring nor speaking ill.
They wished me well, else I would have seen wars between us, with the white and black rooks.

22. I acquiesced to the favors of the world they enjoy without envy, knowing the taste of honey and aloe.
After every blessing comes an affliction to complement it; the pain of childbirth is forgotten upon delivery.

23. A limp troubles me, and I walk on that leg with a limping gait.
When I examine it, the flaw is in my leg, better than a flaw in my mind, due to my ignorance.

24. I have not gained provision beyond my share through greed, nor lost by laxity or failure.
I entrust all my affairs to the One who, behind the veil of mystery, knows what is best for me.

25. Most people proceed under the influence of Taurus and Aries,
And avoid the scorching sun through Capricorn, when it inclines toward Saturn.

26. Fear God in private and public, and for the sins and lapses I have committed.
There is no strategy or caution that can protect you if you fear dread and turmoil.