1. I was ignorant, though I met no teacher, and I recoiled,
Finding it hard to pass my days daubed in kohl.

2. So I set out, my pastures now all barren wastes;
No resting place afforded shade to my camel's back.

3. I fancied that I stayed, while all the time
I journeyed on, unmindful that my camel strode ahead.

4. I said, when fifty-three pilgrimages had passed,
"How soon this camel's pace has brought me to my stage's end."

5. I suffer from disease's weary load
While bounty flows from one whose body is a swarm of bees dispersed.

6. I swim in seas of shrouded gloom, and maybe I
Shall one day clutch and cling to safety's shore.