1. No to the shackles and no to the dark eyes
My heart pours forth and is not moved by reproach

2. I will not go to a companion though her cups
Bring the solace of benevolent, gentle hands

3. I will not say to a censurer who comes to blame me
"Stand up, O brother of censure, and leave not banished"

4. I will not help an eye I flirt with
Nor pity the cooing of the gazelles

5. The voice of a rover does not staunch my tears
Nor does the moan of the lute bend my resolve

6. My soul is busy with melodies and the melodies are busy
I have no need for union with the white palms

7. And my thoughts care only to seek
Glory or trace left in the cosmos witnessed

8. He who takes refuge in me though his nights threaten him
Truly takes refuge in a pillar that does not crumble

9. Nights he refuses to make peace with them
The resolve of a man born to battle fate

10. A resolve that makes sea water palatable
And leaves the sweet water untasted

11. If I have never held the reins of time
Then it has never held my reins a day

12. I have spent most of my life not indebted
To it so I owe it no gratitude

13. Nor have I ever proposed what suits it
My bounty and wisdom forbid me intentionally

14. It turns away save those who cannot be weighed
And none of them can be counted

15. It makes light of men of danger
And makes peace with riffraff and nobodies

16. They drew near their hopes and it distanced me
But I cared not for proximity or exile

17. It favored them with munificence so bounty is theirs
A sanctuary and none of them can grant sanctuary

18. How it falsely promises me to create in me
Yearning for it and flatters me with support

19. It hoped to toy with my hopes so I said
"Do not leave desire in me, I am not to be seduced"

20. He who has tried fate is not fooled by its clatter
Nor believes the lies of trysts

21. Whether it allies with me if I incline to it
Did it intend to break faith or keep its promise?

22. Nor if I attained my wish was there in my life
Apart from excellence, the adornment of its goodness my hands