1. Some people see the truth once,
Then flee from it, closing their mouth,

2. Lest it pursues and enters their mouth, or
They keep watching its frowning face.

3. And I see it once and cling to it,
To be sated though it be bitter.

4. You have traditions I was passionately fond of,
For a time, basking in their shade.

5. Corruption crept into them, so I tossed aside their sanctity,
With vigilant purifiers and sterilizers.

6. But I despaired of them and abandoned them
When I saw their corruption become entrenched.

7. And I severed them from my soul’s soul, a darling,
Leaving the soul dripping with blood.

8. I prefer truth over my own benefit, even if
On Judgment Day it takes me to hell.

9. But truth has become beneficial to people,
So I see their benefit taking precedence.

10. My heart overflows with cruelty toward myself
And with compassion toward people of the world.

11. I weep for others when misfortune strikes them,
My tears flowing like a spring of blood.

12. But I rebel when a calamity hits me
And endure the decree of fate disgruntled.

13. My tears in affliction are hardened
Even if the skies were to fall to the ground.

14. If my soul weeps it is not satisfied
With tears as eloquent translator on its behalf.

15. For its tears are but its sighs
Or its feeling of tears appears laden.

16. People lament my state when they see
My misery, while I view my state smiling.

17. My soul’s pains are unlike people’s pains,
Though I have often rejoiced in what they see as agonizing.

18. How sad they are for what I see as joy,
Or they dance at what I see as bereavement!

19. My eyes see what they cannot, and their eyes
See what I cannot. So who is blind?

20. If they notice a patch on my garb, they grieve,
So I avert my eyes from them, sneering.

21. What do I care for patches on my gown?
My honor will remain intact, unblemished.

22. What business has my body or cloak? I am
A stranger to both no matter how attached.

23. I weep for animals more than for humans,
No matter how much they wrong and oppress.

24. For I do not see animals having any trick
To ward off decreed affliction.

25. And I do see animals wronging at times,
But I see humans as more unjust.

26. How strange is man’s judgment!
If you strike him, he complains and grumbles.

27. Yet he destroys an innocent, harmless animal,
Killing it without feeling he did wrong.

28. When they kidnapped Lindbergh’s baby,
The world clamored and lamented in agony.

29. Yet every day a thousand children
Pass away, with none asking about them.

30. Each imitates the other in ignorance,
And the most ignorant is called most learned.

31. If an ignorant man imitates an ignorant man,
Then perhaps in ignorance I surpass them both.

32. My soul shuns the despicable even if he becomes
A dear friend. If he grows rich and mighty,

33. I hate him and flee him, because I
Love the wretched and hate the prosperous.

34. I strive to weaken the strong and strengthen
The desires of the weak, so I make them equal.

35. Do the world’s faults excuse me? Shall I then
Be questioned against my will about each defect?

36. I have many faults, as if I came
To complement the world’s deficiencies.