1. When I pass by the old quarter
To cool my inflamed despair,

2. I stand still at its vestiges
Though standing wearies my feet.

3. Though the plain is desolate, with no
Visible ruins that meet the eye,

4. Yet time has changed it, leaving only
Traces, like scattered revelation, or like the plucked feathers of an ostrich.

5. Otherwise, it remains dejected, shrouded in
Its corners, like a brooding cat.

6. Or like the stump of a pond whose
Upper parts the hand of fate has effaced.

7. Parched as a toothpick, it survives as a relic
On the thread of that feeble tentpole.

8. When I come upon it, it cures
The suffering of the sick and weary lover.

9. My friend, I give it longing sighs, for my
Days there were days of joy and bliss.

10. I pulled away the skirts of heedlessness when they
Wandered astray over its gravel and flint.

11. The ruins made me their confidant, and I am
A loyal confidant, undaunted by calamities.

12. I have wasted my riotous youth jesting
There despite the blame of faultfinders.

13. Time has left me in peace to enjoy
Its few cares and gentle sorrows.

14. I once knew there a provocative gazelle
Graceful in the blink of an eye or scent of musk,

15. With a smooth cheek I suffered for,
One that steals the heart of the wise.

16. For a time she led me gently by my pain,
Refined in taste and rich perfume.

17. I was spared all women but Salma,
And Salma left me like a freed slave.

18. I imagine her when she begins to bend
The rod of herbuttermilk in the breath of breeze,

19. And comes close to her tent ropes in a way
That kindles the fire of touching.

20. Don’t blame me, my critic, if a young man
Wept over ruins that cannot be blamed.

21. The time I spent there was sweet, not stagnant
Like the stillness of stars in their setting.

22. By it I distinguished friend from foe
And close from distant neighbor.

23. The noble stars conversed with me there,
As nobles converse with the noble.

24. We called each other with proud names
From the essence of pure, unblemished glory.

25. It was untouched by any shameful, vile thing;
No shame or vileness was found there.

26. When goblets are passed we pass them round,
Clarifying the obscure, benighted riddle.

27. And if their hidden meanings run astray, our minds
Leash them with the reins of knowledge.

28. No absent one was estranged, but each one was
His brother’s protected neighbor.

29. Each held the other’s respect like a pasture
In a meadow without barriers.

30. They are my family, my custom
In time of trial, strong, unyielding.

31. Through them I overcome terrors, secure
That they will loose the knot of the ancient pact.

32. He who harbored them was safe from calamity,
Even if their origin was hellfire.

33. Every assailant shrank from them,
And every taster of bitterness and grief.

34. They are purehearted, shining,
Men of a time that, without them, is barren.

35. I have made them sieves for the lies of villains
And magnets for the deviations of the wicked.

36. A lamp, jewelry in the valleys,
Their quality puts moldy hay to shame.

37. I have tested their mettle in perils
More impregnable than any fortress.

38. They neither wavered nor were cowardly, but they
Saw the intricacy and turned away.

39. From what I have tested of their help in the
Crises of fate and days of ordeal:

40. I have found the sweet life embittered, troubled
By its deceptions and disastrous sorrows.

41. People are lost, they have such smooth skins
When smoothness of skin is adored!

42. And they have manners contrary to high principles,
By which are consoled those who pick dates.

43. Their habit is to pretend to high ideals
And resurrect the ways of righteousness,

44. To please God and His Chosen One
Of mighty nature and manner sublime!

45. Upon him and his Household be the purest prayer,
Full of blessings and peace!