1. Misfortunes and fate scoff at my determination,
While my patience remains unbreakable and pure.

2. It's as if each day accuses me of a sin,
My only sin being that I'm free.

3. If the times offer me nothing but that
Which I can scarcely endure, I'll face it with patience.

4. They say, "Ingratiate yourself through humility, and you will attain wealth."
But they do not know that humility itself is poverty.

5. Between me and money stand two gates that forbid
Riches to me - my self-esteem and fate.

6. When comfort says, "This way," I see beyond it
Stances of honor more rewarding than ease.

7. When they come with abundance, I come before them
With the spirit of a poor man, all of whose morals are chivalry.

8. And what can the likes of me do if greed
Succumbs to one whose hand has known generosity?

9. My best traits, when seated with the noble,
Are indifference and a gaze of disdain.