1. I abandoned love not out of inability's frustration,
Nor from blame, gossip or a chaperone.

2. Nor from fear of lovers' tears,
Nor dread of parting and the beloved's estrangement,

3. At which tears flow like pouring rain.
But I chose chastity for my soul,

4. To comfort the suspicious eye with its purity.
That is because I live in an age of a people

5. To whom refinement is a wondrous matter.