1. Time diminished until it was lost in my concerns,
And worries grew until they became part of my nature.

2. Had the blackness of hair depended on my debts,
Grayness would have no power over determination.

3. Living is a blessing I have been granted, death a fate I despise,
Yet the circular motion of fickle fortune stems from my own schemes.

4. Decisiveness and resolve in people are a reflection of my character,
Just as eloquence in words reflects my own speech.

5. O Hind, daughter of wisdom, time is never sated
With aught but my flesh, quenched by none but my blood.

6. Had it spilled the blood of all mankind to the last man,
Leaving them no flesh or bone,

7. The nights and days, had they conspired against me,
Could not turn the course of fate away from my spear and my destiny.

8. Of all mankind, I strive to reach first for destiny's goals,
With ample time before me, honored in life above all the generous.

9. Loftier than the stars, my glory gives guidance
To those who seek it. After me, there is only darkness.

10. If people recognized my worth in their time,
They would pray in my name or kiss the dust of my feet.

11. I make my days incline to bestow on me
Gains more subtle than utter nothingness.

12. I appease them for a while and hold them in awe
So my words fall not on deaf ears.

13. Until the shifting of fate startles my vigilance
And forces back my hand, though it cannot seal my mouth.

14. My life passes but does not fulfill its purpose.
Are you awake? Or lost in dreams?

15. Set your arrows straight and spare no man,
Scale the heights from the lowest valleys to the peaks of agony.

16. You live among men, each with his own experience,
Yet in their eyes the wisest understanding goes astray.

17. Leave no one alive if you best him,
If your view is to unsheathe the sword among the peoples.

18. I spurn every friend who praises me unduly,
I who have no true friend but regret.

19. I am accused of pride by the lofty ideals I pursue,
Though I know of no character more unassuming than my own.

20. I sought the rectitude of men's affection yet strangely
The cure becomes the illness in a matter I thought sound.

21. My heart desires nothing but the moaning
Wrung from the lifeblood of cavaliers by the sword.

22. How often it yearns for souls amidst thirst
And how it longs for bodies amidst decay!

23. When the curves of passion clasp my shoulder,
Rejoice in the raging fires of sedition and turmoil.

24. Whoever strives best gets what he wills,
Sustenance comes through striving and then portioned by fate.

25. Why did I settle for the bottom of the house as my station
When the swords of India are not content with my ambitions?

26. Until I turn the darkness back to dawn in its freshness
And dress the sun in robes of concealed darkness.

27. Without me serpents would not keep still in earthly holes for fear
Nor lions in the thickets for terror.

28. Who rivals my throw when I hurl spears?
Who can rule India's diamonds from its peaks?

29. Who fills the heart of night with fright
When I pierce it with the finely honed head of an arrow?

30. Bearing the distant goal of high ambition
Your time sleeps, oblivious, while you are awake.

31. With unwavering resolve you stretch your purpose far,
Gripping your aim with the finality of death's stranglehold.