1. The homes are desolate, imprisoned in neglect
Their ruins like the tracks of horses

2. Nothing in them but figural images
Cheeks rough-hewn that chatter in the sun

3. And traces of steeds in the breadth
Of tents, and signs of trampling

4. So I confined the caravan there, brooding
On the entirety of affairs, being perceptive

5. Until the gazelles leapt with the edges
Of shadows, and diminished in the scrub

6. And I despaired of what had made me
Hopeful there, nothing consoling like despair

7. I incline toward an effeminate land
That shears the pebbles in desolate places

8. Whose scrawny cattle wander like
The furs of squirrels with a miserable bleating

9. Shall we not return it to a king
Valiant in leadership, resolute in spirit

10. To the son of Maryah the generous, has
Abu Hassân found comfort among men

11. You love him in the overflowing green
Upon its slopes, and the darkness like saplings

12. And the yellow gold that follows
With the white sheep, and the missing

13. No withholder of wealth it destroys
The loose stars before him like ill omens

14. So he has none there, if
The noses of the people are thrust into misery