1. To how many foes and enviers shall I show tolerance?
Who will guide me, save me, or lend me support?

2. Had some people inclined toward me a little,
I would not have cared for any antagonist.

3. O my soul, if you do not break your vow to me,
Then who is it that hopes for the loyalty of my allies?

4. Methinks my heart's yearning is not excessive,
And my eyelids' sleep will not return.

5. God willed that I wander distracted
By keeping pacts or mentioning agreements.

6. And how many watering places in love I have attained
And wasted my life in the crowds at the watering holes.

7. I have none I yearn for but one,
Since for me the world was nothing when the one was gone.

8. O beloved ones, where is he who was once between us
And where is he whose promises you made?

9. I preferred you above all other people
And turned away from Zayd, Amr, and Khalid.

10. So do not let a proffered love make you concede,
By my Lord, to that which is worthless and unstable!

11. To me your rights have a thousand seekers
And a thousand customers who buy them at a profit.

12. They say to me, “You are the one whose fame has spread.”
But from whom comes praise, and when have greetings flowed?

13. Acclaim me as you claim I am the one—
But where are my visitors and guests from among you?

14. Once you were my support against every misfortune,
The store I prepared for times of hardship.

15. I hoped you would give me victory, but you let me down,
Despite your being my sword, my palm, and my aide!

16. You acted and spoke and made excuses and ran away,
Yet in all of this I cannot reproach you.

17. You rewarded that friendship with aloofness
And that intimacy with separation.

18. If this is what you kinsmen do,
Then what have you left for strangers?