1. Whoever saw the flags waving atop the spears from afar
Like a ship tempest-tossed at sea signaling the stricken,

2. Or a cloud pregnant with rain,
Or shuddering mirages where no trace of life stirs-

3. Return in spite of grief and though I said “Begone!”
My heart, after I built it up like a decree, crumbled.

4. My ardour in tears from my eyes flowed confusedly at dawn.
My love songs redolent of wine and musk exhaled their scent,

5. Though he who is sweetly affectionate has no sweet affection.
What evil has the guide done that he should fear slander?

6. No greeting of his was proffered in secret without pure intent.
Truly he who is parsimonious with water to the thirsty is stingy.

7. My longing surged wildly like a Khumri songstress keening her grief,
A turtle-dove whose abode is the apple-tree, whether it sings or is silent.

8. O you who approach us, let there be no avoiding us from you.
We are bodies and you are the spirit animating bodies.

9. In war and then in truce there is winging and moaning of arrows,
And if the tribe does not breathe might into you, loneliness enfeebles you.

10. When the warrior dons his coat of mail, you are the shield.
If you doubt his merit in generosity, doubt itself is disgraceful.

11. Behold him in the fray, the forelock of his brow sublime,
As the spear-blade drinks from the meadows in long draughts amid clashing of arms

12. Where no tomb can be dug in the earth for the dead,
Save a lancer charging home thrusts or a striker goring straight.

13. One whose luck is the stab of death in the kidneys is stricken,
A runner and chaser, a divisor and uniter,

14. And separation has passed, no return or going back,
So hearts this day are burning with grief,

15. Having seen what the ambitious eye hoped for in part,
And we saw the fruit of beauty and what the odious reaps.

16. Difficulty has passed and spacious life has come to us.
Say to him who was wounded: those wounds have healed.

17. There is only a hope of gain or ample profit in selling.
For us there are sung verses and pleasures in the abodes of security,

18. And steeds, goal-seeking, bending whither we desire,
And hearts at peace and souls serene,

19. And we have the river reeds - what events occur among them! -
And abstinence, wounds, self-mortification;

20. And soft skins - what sores and wounds affect them!
So accept the repentance of a time devoid of ugliness,

21. Deluding at times, though now as we wish we give good counsel.
A name artless and bright - how much chicanery came to us from it!

22. But the earnest person is one who attained the furthest goal and put minds at rest.
There will come to you as you wish

23. Expansive domains and conquests,
And ascendancies whose teachings and counsels time does not erase.

24. Because I have prolonged excessively this detailed exposition and commentary,
Take my hints until explicit words come,

25. And if reverent discretion prevents
Uttering elegant speech, may you never cease enjoying favors

26. And keeping far from following glory, wherever it may take you,
Barren wastes for you, and evasion.

27. May he whom you did not accept, in what he tramples, be kept from you.
For the noble youth is one whom praise falls short of reaching.