1. I implore you in my worth and status
That you wrong neither in idle sport

2. One who mixed good with evil
Though guile availed him naught, nor vileness brought him aught

3. Yet ugly jesting, foul of face, befits him more
Than fresh disgrace spread wide and far

4. O you who must hasten to reunite us
Though crookedness and confusion be your wont

5. If I was gold to you before this day
Then that pure gold knew no corrosion

6. My rope has been cut by skilled hands
So that rope will not snap again

7. I whose nature from of old
All creation swore would never don a slipper or a cloak

8. And my sanctity, by God so lofty in your eyes
Age cannot gnaw, nor insects stain

9. This talk you have corrupted is like
A shame the ear recoils from when artless

10. I have no stake in what its claimant alleges to you
Neither charm nor whispered spell

11. Nor kept I silent in admission of his words
But I contained myself, though scalded by their heat

12. And shamed my brow, disbelieving utterly
Violently, though he spoke twisted words

13. The jest was likely his sole aim
Not earnest, though earnestly he sowed

14. Yet openhanded am I, generosity my way
Though in my beard be strands of grey

15. My fathers were Byzantines, Theophilos and Theophobos
No Arab ever spawned me, no!

16. Nor did I vaunt some vain pretension over anyone
But words will flow when the theme is brought up

17. I am too proud to plead excuses to you, no thirst
Have I to praise my line or race

18. But preserve my place with you, and name me such
That souls shudder not nor rot

19. Let no new thing occur contrary to what we had
For your neighbor is one you vouchsafed security

20. Be gentle with my adversary, though disheveled his appearance
You'll remain, long as you live, the one who smooths his hair