1. The vicissitudes of fate have afflicted me with their calamities,
And the affairs of time address me with blame.

2. Grant me respite by the valley of Nariz, for it
Flows without generosity, its sides avoiding me.

3. We were dismissed while the yellow sun was waning,
To the threshold of a door whose guardian is not venerable.

4. Bitterness is not sought from the generous, nor
Are its gifts hoped for from the intoxicated.

5. He disdained to bid farewell, until I thought
He was chewing his name which his confusion made him forget.

6. He attempted an excuse, then choked on his saliva,
And the mongrel thought that I would bark at him.

7. So I dismissed him gently, and whenever
A scoundrel of evil people came to me with wickedness, I would not reproach him.

8. When the towering mountain is humbled and its peaks
Soften for the spying enemy’s horseman.

9. Clan and tribe plunder it after I saw it
And the people of the two horizons plucking its fruits.

10. That is only because its horsemen have agreed
On a common purpose, though its blows distress them,

11. Defending in unison the one to be avenged while
His food and drink distract them not from eating and drinking,

12. When the supplies are cut off it is taken lightly but if they are few
Its sides feel secure and tranquil upon the meadow.

13. A brother of pleasure whose slumber the forenoon dispels,
While the hand of fate leaves him be, and his sorrows are black.

14. He is busy on both his sides, whichever
His loved ones and darlings befriend.

15. A mare of noble breed, as if for another
Were the heavy stallion’s mounts upon its shoulders.

16. Abu Khalid, may God not make you prosperous,
For you were but the billy goat with the dangling udder.