1. We have obtained from life what was said of old:
No more is there fragrance after the bride.

2. The people have borne away all sweetness from it,
And we are left to ignominy and baseness.

3. Nothing beautifies remembrance like it,
Nor does the abode of the wretched restore it.

4. And if in this matter I lack those two,
My sitting and rising betray and expose me.

5. Before us the pottage of the pilgrims was set,
And he acknowledged it with a frowning face.

6. And Salih took charge of the two Iraqs,
A fire of war kindled with the war of Bisus.

7. A session in hell is hotter and better
Than a departure leading to vileness.

8. So to escape from degradation in man,
Escape from Satan would have been wise.

9. Think you I intrude where people
Are invested with sword and chain?

10. Among a foreigner and another with mange,
And one possessed and one touched by jinn,

11. And a sodomite and a leper, two who are
Lessened of the lot of every chief.

12. A tribe not to be fully blamed in them,
Described as possessing meanness.

13. The goal of knowledge with them, and the full
Extent of merit, is saddle and clothes.

14. No glory for the youth lies in new clothes
While inwardly he owns reproachful poverty.

15. Wealth lies not in much heirloom and linen,
But in honor within the souls.

16. The custom of time upon it flows,
That tails turn above the heads.

17. I have contained that by which success is attained,
So who will grant me my inauspicious lot?

18. And if the love of the religion of truth befits me,
He has charge of bliss, killing misfortune.

19. I have bound myself, O turnings of the nights,
From his hands, so fool me or make me wise!

20. I have, whatever I wished, a garden
And a pond from its frequented meadow.