1. I have a robe that is tattered from how I twist it,
And I patch it up with nothing but shreds.

2. My cheeks shook until the onlooker thought
That spiders had nested upon my head.

3. Whenever I look in the mirror out of illness,
I see nothing but an emaciated face.

4. Yet thank God I have a maid
Whose beak tells of nothing but the hoe.

5. For her there are cheeks with pink flushes,
Eyes without kohl, and a smile amid green myrtle.

6. She whimpers like a doe spreading
Her arms while he mimics the rib of an adolescent.

7. And I have children who have burdened my supporter,
And I have become, because of their sorrow, like a watchtower.

8. They clamor around me like mice out of mischief,
Biting with fangs and molars.

9. When they quiet down for a while, you would think them,
Because of their horrible state, boys with mange.

10. And for them the night of boiled chickpeas
Is counted among those of weddings.