1. She passed resolutely, neither hesitating nor wavering,
Alas! Her face does not turn to one who gazes,

2. Nor does her compassion extend to one who implores.
O Abu Ali, you are most dear to me because of what

3. The maiden with flowing tresses has done to you.
Why do you blame the singing girls? While you

4. Are righteous towards the singers.
No fresh branch adorned with blossoms in the morning

5. Was fairer in waving and bending than you.
Sweeter and more luscious in melody than Ma'bad's lute,

6. And Ibn Surayj and the descending scales.
You may say verses by which to seduce

7. A wanton behind the door or screen.
And the message of love may be conveyed on your behalf

8. So she comes to you like a pearl obtained with effort.
May God destroy her! How she broke her vow

9. And came at night, contrary to the promise.
You relied on her gifts but did not fear

10. The evils that could come from pleasure.
She saw the face of the one to whom she wrote,

11. So she turned from you in the worst way.
You should have known the secret in her obstinate breast

12. With the wisdom and discernment you were given.
Are you not a brilliant Indian sword in appearance

13. But your thoughts are deficient and inadequate?
You sought all knowledge and excelled

14. In preserving the sayings of the ancestors.
What Hipparchus concluded about the firmament

15. And Ptolemy made clear or obscure to you.
So how did you err, my brother, and not depend

16. On what you had transcribed in the scriptures?
And how did the Quran point out to you

17. What was implicit and what was explicit?
Why did you not take omens from the celestial birds

18. Or deduce from the moon's halo or study the shoulder blades?
You took her along though parting was imminent

19. For one of you two riders or passengers.
And you went though misfortunes foretold

20. The state of the two travellers to differ.
Did you not see the stars that you two

21. Were in a fixed and divergent configuration?
Nor did you observe Mars envying

22. Venus, aspiring to her rank and prominence.
Informing that a visiting woman would secretly

23. Console a spurned lover in his anguish.
How did you overlook this when you were focused

24. On calendars and astronomy, constantly vigilant?
Did you falter in this craft or grow weary of it

25. Or cast it aside as delusion?
You never left the vestibule without her anklet chiming too.

26. So where is the youth's oath and his promise?
And where is the old woman's advice "Do not fear"?

27. How the people betray their vows!
How bold they are in taking false oaths!

28. You did not exercise judgment in drawing her close
One who does not reciprocate affection and kindness.

29. Oh you who have wasted knowledge! How can it be possessed
By the arrogant, vain and impudent among you?

30. You lead her astray to a king
Whose build and stature appeal to her.

31. She inclines to the like of him when she looks
From you to a carcass of carcasses.

32. It pains me that she should be mistreated
And anguished by him in the choicest garden.

33. They told her about your shaykh standing vigil
In the bathhouse, so she lamented in sorrow,

34. And informed her that his nickname is
Abu Qumash, the fungus and truffle peddler,

35. And talked to her about his cheap cloak and turban
So she nearly died laughing.

36. You perceived that in her obvious disdain
And contempt for you and your gift.

37. And her disinterest in gifts from you,
So she only accepts reluctantly and angrily.

38. You know you are unkempt in appearance
With prominent unruly hair.

39. And old age has made clear your demise
In a sagging cheek chewing its food with difficulty.

40. A face that cuts the sight of all creation,
With a long nose precisely formed.

41. And spittle beneath double chin that has dripped
From a destructive, ruinous mouth.

42. As if there is a bite in his mouth that has
Tied his tongue so it curves to the side.

43. Haughtiness and vulgarity have joined forces
In his swaying, tilting gait.

44. The darkness of his dye has spread over
The bending of a goat made vile.

45. Shaking his head makes him imagine
He has risen from a sneeze with prestige.

46. An appalling dimwittedness in the eyes
Left far behind even Abu Khalaf.

47. You hope to attain the moon in this state!
By my life, this is the utmost frivolity.