1. I presented my love to one with meaning glances,
That she may value me at my full worth and cease from abandoning me,

2. And I told her of the sorrows that I suffer,
And of what my heart conceals within its depths,

3. So she listened to my complaints while her mouth smiled,
And all my healing was in the dew of that mouth,

4. When there appeared to us from the side of the valley some young men,
On whom it was evident that their purpose was my own,

5. She said, “Of lovers they used to say, ‘Knights,
Brave glories of a select band of men,’”

6. And I said to her, “I am of a race
Who built for knowledge a palace of whites and blacks,”

7. “Ask the time about our hands, for it
Knows better than any what my fathers did,”

8. Then she turned her face aside with her right hand
As tears flowed down her cheek,

9. “Why do you boast of old times when amongst you
Are students who nearly died of poverty?”

10. “Is it not strange that some of them bite the dust
While they are in the regions of the Nile amongst the Egyptians?”

11. “They came from the lands of Syria sipping
From the overflowing cups of Azhar’s knowledge,”

12. “And their kinsmen used to send them enough
To sustain them every two or three months,”

13. “Then this war unleashed its afflictions on them
And closed off to them the land and sea,”

14. “So they cannot go back to their country
Nor remain suffering privation,”

15. “If one of them should die yearning in your lands,
Alas for the age! That drop is in utter loss,”

16. Then I said to her, “Stop blaming! We are,
As they have told of us, lords in hardship,”

17. “We have inherited from our forebears preferring our neighbor,
And surplus of wealth is better than abundance,”

18. “So do not worry! We will host our guests
And honor their dwelling, for we must host them,”

19. Then she said, “God watch over you! Come nearer to me, saying:
Avoid the abodes of guests with poetic generosity,”

20. “Breaking a promise has become the practice of a people,
So if you are one of them, then get me out of the enclosure,”

21. Then I said, “God forbid that I be one of them!
But if you are patient I will praise you, for good lies in patience,”