1. Turn away from hopes, for hopes have forsaken me,
And turn away the vicissitudes of fate that have turned from me.

2. My Ja'far was once very generous to me,
With gifts from his hands that lifted me high then lowered me.

3. Treasures that restrain the soul from what it desired
And approved for itself out of its excuses and took as lawful.

4. O Abu Hassan, how far is the wavering palm
That stretched out to you and the foot that slipped in hoping for you!

5. I see my need drawing near to fulfilling it;
If only the stretching out of hands to it were made easy.

6. I have not seen anyone bound by aspiration and wishes like me,
Nor any soul as debased to baseness as my soul.

7. I used to have a place for artistry,
If only a sky would pour from your clouds.

8. It diminishes it with gratitude if it were plentiful,
And makes much of it with excuses if it were little.

9. We have left you, with no grief for the hope that is gone,
Nor sorrow for hopes when they have withered away.

10. There is nothing in you for the caravan of hopefuls
To yearn for, but the riding beasts have grown weary.