1. If time's face is stained, others fear it
And if it changes, its change concerns them

2. Time is not something I fear without cause
I restrain and command it when I wish

3. I pass judgement as I please, heedless of consequences
Neither its turbulence nor bitterness disturb me

4. Nor when its events knock on my heart
Does it shake or diminish its patience

5. The free man is like pure gold, no matter his status
His essence cannot rust from disgrace

6. I see no profit in an easy life
If it satisfies some, its least contents me

7. Slow down, oh time, so I may harvest fruit
For most of my life passed sowing

8. Be, oh time, as I wish, so excelling
I know and appreciate excellence

9. My words loosen magic and knot it
Scattering then stringing pearls of thought

10. When speeches call out and discourses summon
His pulpit makes no distinction in resolving matters

11. Like the breast of a lance it trembles
Bringing tidings and warnings to creation

12. It unravels minds with its rhythms
Like lines of spells cast over them

13. He who contemplates its profound mysteries
Is exhausted by the effort of thought

14. Praise of it is hoped for, insult feared
As long as its propriety and impropriety appear

15. I praised a man whose traits were sound
Until he faltered, then censured and shunned him

16. I still my tongue from conversing
With one ignorant of my status and greater

17. And substitute a hand whose motions suffice
Should meaning be unclear, to explain

18. How much courtesy unknown between men
The blind may observe and the sighted view

19. The deaf may listen when I speak it
And grasp the intent when mentioned

20. The matter complies with my hands
Advancing now, delaying then

21. As if I were Solomon of my age
No command rejected I wish to issue