1. Kindred spirits are drawn together in this world, only to later split apart,
For after unity comes separation that will never again meet.

2. So take your share of pleasure with loved ones
Before the cord of life itself is cut.

3. We use letters between us as messengers,
Bearing our conversations back and forth.

4. Though our homes be distant, our hearts are near,
And through this closeness we find joy and gain.

5. The most lonesome are those who for ages we've neighbored,
Yet they remain strangers to us, aloof.

6. Come my letter, hasten today to a treasured land,
To Egypt, where hopes and dreams are fulfilled.

7. Bring glad tidings if goodness you find there,
For goodness brings joy to those who seek good.

8. Blessed is that fertile land by the Nile,
Whose shores are graced by water's flow.

9. The home of a friend is itself a friend,
For in love, the place takes on the status of its people.

10. I yearn to visit, longing to see,
But circumstance prevents me from going.

11. There lives a friend whose affection
Has only grown through the long years.

12. He's been there so long he seems a part of the land,
Like clothes whose patches have become one with the original cloth.

13. Open and noble is he, never satisfied
With any honor or riches that come his way.

14. In his heart are stamped the ways of piety
As a seal on paper leaves its imprint.

15. Absence lies between our two homes, leaving no space
In our hearts for closeness to grow.

16. If I cannot look upon his face, then I will be content
Just seeing his handwriting today brings me joy.