1. O fate, neither welcome nor greeting,
Good riddance to the first to depart.

2. If only the remainder of you would borrow
Paths gone by or take on a new course.

3. If you had brought yourselves nearer to me,
My farthest reach would requite

4. A portion of what you first gave.
So often my brother gained from me

5. Bounty he saw as his right.
In whatever land I lodged,

6. I made myself at home while I stayed.
When I resolved to depart, its chieftain

7. Would plead with me to remain
Or take my hand, forbidding me,

8. His stance makes me saddle up to leave.
So people are beyond describing -

9. No dew, no stinginess.
I know not what they do, so what

10. Can I say when words follow deeds?
Only lingering virtues I see myself

11. One day heedlessly forgetting.
Long has my neglect gone on. No Abu Hasan

12. Asks after me, nor Abu Ya'la.
If this is “being busy,” they'll never

13. Find me too busy for them.
Has any building been erected whose pillars

14. Endured without praise or towered high?
Or persist and be thanked? I've loaded

15. My mount and ridden its burdens.
Thanks I’ve sent all the way

16. To those who stayed put.
Till I filled both East and West,

17. Sad and happy lands.
After that, is there any favor