1. My life is my quiver, and my poems are my arrows,
So bring me close to the target, but do not let me draw near,

2. Their perfume was hidden from its pearls by a shell,
So describe it with gazelle musk and ambergris.

3. And I saw survival in it, though it passes quickly
Like the dowry before union, a mere down payment,

4. For in evil, know that there are still good things,
And men's love is above all jewels.

5. The state of the deceived with what they encounter
Is not like those who bend and those who cheat.

6. People and life are an open market for them,
With some who lose and some who profit.

7. The poor wretch who carries offal
Has he not come to esteem the son of Labun?

8. How much steam and daylight have we traversed,
As if time creeps like a lizard!

9. May God pasture a neighbor who would not
Turn away from a downpour whose drops are clear.

10. They excited me, and the son of Sabra in Sabra
Is none but the death of the aroused one.