1. I thought I had forsaken love's pursuit, but lo -
Its account was still open in my book of verse.

2. My youth and passion were pledged to the maidens of the curtains
As in days of yore when I was a lively lad.

3. And now the forties dawn whose vanguard
Blew in the locks of my head its winds of change.

4. I thought I had forsaken love's pursuit, but no -
Its theme was still the subject of my poems.

5. What I imagined was devotion was but
A soothing of my soul - not truth's reflection.

6. Far different is my feeling in its essence
Than echoings of thoughts in cold confession.

7. So let him fear God who thinks the lovesick feign
Indifference - love's honor allows no shame.

8. It hurts not my Jordanian brother's repute
If his new cloak one day shows patched and worn.