1. I confide in my friend as a witness and make him pure,
And keep him in my heart when he is absent.

2. My face is gentle towards the seeker of companionship,
And my abode is spacious for neighbors.

3. I make my guest laugh before he dismounts,
And he finds fertility with me though the place is barren.

4. Fertility for guests is not in plenty of neighbors,
But in the face of the generous being fertile.

5. And my inner self is pure for the friend,
Even if some aspects seemed doubtful.

6. I reproach him playfully and turn away coquettishly,
With a throbbing in the chest between the ribs.

7. I fear insisting reproaches towards my companion,
For ignorance has a share in the heart of the forbearing.

8. I humble myself to him as if I had sinned against him,
Repenting to him a sin of mine against him.

9. So a hidden love may live between us,
And so suspicion passes or a stranger departs.

10. If he returns I do not recount his sins,
Do men's sins persist after their return?

11. If he is harsh in shunning me, I pardon generously,
Perhaps the estranged after aloofness will return.

12. I protected the skin of my face from him but my loyalty
To him did not decline until anguish departed.

13. I did not divulge a secret between us,
For the secret has a keeper and guardian.

14. I have two hearts; a wasted heart,
And a coward heart if you ask it to attack.

15. Brave for what virtue made forbidden,
Fleeing from that which would shame and perturb.

16. I consult the people of wisdom in what befalls me,
Even if I have an opinion, sharp as a spearhead.

17. What I see clearly, its correctness does not confuse me,
And I intuit what I do not see, and hit the mark.

18. I do not claim knowledge for a questioner in ignorance,
Nor envy the questioned when he responds.

19. I do not ask the youths about my neighbor’s face,
From afar or up close.