1. Our loved ones, through you we have life, in union with you
And our pillows, through you we have death, in separation from you

2. You preoccupy us with remembering you and yearning for your love
We have no other preoccupation but your remembrance

3. If time is generous to me with your company
Then all the passing days are sweet nectar to me

4. And if one day it denies me your nearness
Then all of time's pleasures are anguish to me

5. So from where can the heart find rest and comfort
And not one moment of its life is it tranquil without you

6. And from where can the heart be consoled after parting with you
My heart is never devoid of thoughts of you

7. You were miserly in granting union, yet
Stinginess and miserliness only adorn you in my eyes

8. I am heedless of blame, my hearing is deaf
So that no blame or rebuke may enter

9. He who understands love will excuse me for it
And ignorance will rebuke me for it

10. Why the estrangement, aloofness, abandonment, and few meetings
Your indifference, distance, malice and avoidance

11. I am one with lasting sorrow and anguish
As long as her estrangement from me persists

12. A maiden whose radiant face outshines the dawn
When she emerges from her chamber at daybreak

13. She has a sweet, disarming smile
And a languid, doe-eyed glance lined with kohl

14. Kohl and a slender waist, complaining of the pain of passion
From her hips, burdened by their heaviness

15. And polished, smooth cheeks, unspoiled
By any pallor, refined without cosmetics

16. She rejected me with estrangement and persisted in her coldness
Her abandonment is easier for me to bear than death

17. My heart has grown accustomed, for I am not the first lover
To face this ordeal placed upon mankind before me

18. Do not despair, for time is the Lord of constant change
Perhaps after this separation closeness will reunite us

19. Indeed, days reveal wondrous matters
Perplexing intellect, thought and reason

20. The schemes of fate will reveal what will transpire
So do not be troubled, if you obtain joy or hardship

21. Do not be fooled by a companion feigning friendship
That he manifested for a while with ulterior motives

22. Some people sweetly phrase their words for you
While their exterior is sweet, their interior bitter

23. So judge people according to their deeds
Repay good with good if they go astray

24. If you do not repay harm and injury with its like
You have wronged yourself and neither hand nor foot remains untainted

25. They say forgiveness is better than punishment
But I say they err in this declaration

26. But the verses of the book have come abrogating it
Do you not see that retaliation has abrogated forgiveness?

27. God has made incumbent shielding one's eyes from motes
When one is subjected to wrongs, oppression and humiliation

28. And if you are among people whose affection for you is pure
Then show them affection and comply when they comply

29. But if they sever the cord of companionship
Do not maintain ties with them if they have abandoned loyalty

30. And be like them in every circumstance, do not weary
Keep apart and do not inquire into their secrets if they have withdrawn

31. And love in moderation, do not be excessive
And hate in moderation, so shade endures for you

32. The best of people are those who measure their hate and passion
And the worst are those who exceed proper bounds

33. Do not joke all the time in every gathering
In every place, lest you be taken lightly with contempt

34. Do not give your secret to every intimate friend
For how many a close companion was his killer

35. Cover every defect with the garment of generosity
Indeed, generosity conceals the flaws of men

36. Give due rights to kinsmen and men of worth
That you may live well, for words follow deeds

37. Do not find fault with one who is absent
Even if he is blameworthy, justice is more worthy of you

38. And do not be one who constantly berates
But one who pardons lapses if the slipper slips

39. And do not foolishly take on a burden
Without the capacity to shoulder its weight

40. And do not turn away from a true friend
While seeking distant affection that merits you not

41. Do not aspire to what originates from a base source
For no good is in the branches if the source is corrupt

42. And do not abandon discretion in any situation
Even if you accumulate much property and horses

43. Only accompany the pious and refined
For your status among the noble continues to rise

44. Do not take the enemies lightly for their paucity
For hostility towards me is great, even if they are few

45. And consult when your opinion is correct
For fellow consultation is esteemed by all

46. But whoever unilaterally decides an affair
Is blamed, disparaged, unanimously condemned

47. Do not intend residing in the lands, for
The valued person is one not bound by encampment

48. For a person's lengthy stay invariably breeds boredom
Just so, with time, even hyacinths become despised

49. And do not disregard the strong words
Of a weak person, for bees produce honey

50. For many a weak one is wise in opinion and deterring
While many a strong one, his words are jest among people

51. I have seen the people of this world incline towards
Whoever among them has no family

52. And if I am of young age, yet
From much experience with its sons, I am mature

53. For I have not seen among them a loyal friend
Whose loyalty to me persists without fickleness

54. Yet I have insight into the age and its people
And am no ignorant one, for long they have tested me