1. Abu Bakr, you are the highest ideal,
And the dust under your enemy's cheek is base.

2. I saw the horizon as a vast arena,
Where the mean-spirited train their temperament.

3. An evil soul tempts him to neglect his duty,
Seeing duty as a great burden.

4. So why, may I sacrifice myself for you and my family,
Does this horizon sell you for dew, you who are so noble?

5. I think when you grant me a gift,
You give me little of what you have in abundance.

6. And what would satisfy the likes of me
Falls short in your wise judgement.

7. The eye of the generous, superior one is an eye
That gives little though its gifts are many.

8. And between your horizon and my imbalance
The frail man dies of his malady.

9. So do not limit your gifts to me by your measure,
Nor by my worth, disparaging what you give.

10. Release what you intend, hoping
It will suffice me, O noble man!

11. Else I bid you farewell,
As a home has sprouted and hastened my departure.

12. And I say to you words of a jester,
Noble in manner, of noble lineage:

13. When a country shrinks for a hopeful soul,
No road is closed to resolute purpose.

14. If there is a land with no shade,
Then I have abundant shade in another land.

15. How miserable is a shade with no
Passerby seeking shelter to rest!

16. And every desirer grows more distant,
Then compensates and finds an alternative.

17. And death is a blessing for the living,
While life is similar to death.

18. Generation upon generation will quench their thirst,
And century upon century will water its basin.

19. The turning of fate runs in an orbit
In which the beautiful and the terrible alternate.

20. One era it points to some people,
And another it turns them aside.

21. No hand can grip security,
Nor any wealth guarantee it.

22. So why do I grieve over a departing companion,
Or incline toward a deviating friend?

23. What is despaired of may become feasible,
Just as the impossible may be obstructed.

24. And if I part ways with a companion,
Then I have parted ways with him.

25. I find it strangest that fate sees me
As impossible in your time and mine.

26. Had you been resolute, benefiting me would not thwart you.
How can such a slight thing hinder the capable man?

27. I will seek benefit from a king
Who, when I petition, will guarantee it.

28. And know which of us is the wronged one,
Plainly, or let proof be made clear to you.

29. You are harsh when I am blamed,
And gentle when I benefit you.

30. Impartial witnesses will judge between us
And long distances will separate our homes.

31. I resorted to you but you abandoned me,
I lodged with you but comfort evaded the guest.

32. I cast you yet vainly sought your gifts,
So why does my integrity not move you?

33. I asked from my caretakers and the prime of my youth,
So how can it be difficult to ask from a friend?

34. God will requite what you have done to me,
You will reap evenly what you sow.

35. I think that you spurned me for a trifle,
Abu Bakr, the noble character, the flint.

36. And I have a reputation protected by a tongue
That makes both seem like a polished sword.

37. This defiles while the other is undefiled,
This censures while the other is reserved.

38. You kept company with the noble family of Wahb
When proof led them.

39. We all knew you would protect
Their tyranny with your formidable spears.