1. Your solace is as long as time, O son of Abu al-Fakhr
A dear sorrow, since you do not incline towards patience

2. So do not show grief, lest the envious gloat
And restrain the tears of your eyes in secret and openly

3. You missed a girl of ivory, carried off
By fate's thieves, more precious than the full moon

4. A white, green-figured beauty
Like the patterns on gambling arrows released at dusk

5. She appeared on the couch like a docile gazelle
So who could keep pace or stand firm?

6. She obeyed you in your requests, though she was stubborn
Your will was between drinking, prohibition and command

7. And often I spent the night with her by force
Yet showed no sign that force pained me

8. As if the lines of passion were lines of poetry
Through her I had no need for prose or verse

9. And your carved cross above the lintel
Reminded the neighbor, square in form

10. When three dice showed, they drank to the Trinity
And took them as such, through righteousness

11. The die's work in the cup appeared
Distracting you from obligatory and feast day fasts

12. When two dots appeared on the dice
Dear friends joined, heedless of separation

13. Like a beauty mark, the dots of your dice enchanted you
So you were passionate all your life

14. Her evenly and unevenly dotted dice pleased you
And distracted you from pairs and odds

15. When she pressed her lips, a sound emerged
Like that of the lute, tambourine and reed pipe

16. So above your eyes she was replaced by her likeness
Dots of blindness, O ember, O hot coal!