1. O sweetness of time, when will you wake?
How narrow are the vast demands!

2. O attainment of fortunes, is there not
For a gallant youth a path without humiliation?

3. Every merit that was upon it
Becomes fit only to be shunned.

4. Time has decreed the opposite of right,
That he who does not push ahead cannot excel.

5. None can enjoy a life of ease
Except a free man with a smiling face.

6. A decree that right opinion went astray in,
And hopes below it were shown false.

7. Reproach is prolonged while the days are deaf,
Like one drowned complaining to the waves.

8. Misfortunes smash it though it is unyielding,
And pettiness debases it though it is noble.

9. Lo, a father parts from me, from whom lessons
Of fate cannot be gained.

10. A soul whose ephemeral desires
Lead its hopes wherever they lead.

11. If I train it to bear difficulties
I overburden it with more than it can bear.

12. It disobeyed even the deceits of passion,
And obedience to youth became unfit for it.

13. It felt dishonor in love and so
Became wary of the beautiful as it saw fit.

14. One with a slender waist, neither majestic
Nor fed on beauty or dainty foods.

15. I abandoned it, though my tears did not
Cease for it, nor my anguished side.

16. I will tread its white roads alone,
Where could I find a friend to accompany me?

17. To gain, like Job's friend, one who
Alas, has long been on the way.

18. I left both worlds for His sake, and I
By leaving them for His sake alone, am fit.

19. My friend from the house of ministers has a rip -
Their branches are revived through his roots.

20. A martyr whose glory
Rests on feet other than theirs, smooth.

21. For Job there are intimates who point to him
As lightning points to rain.

22. From him is the superior Ismael, like the completing
Of an eye's kohl when it is given more black makeup.

23. Fitting to its long, towering stature
Is a deep rooting in their glories.

24. With sums that remove dishonor from it
And wealth in which rights have dissolved.

25. Possessors of agreeable tongues and mouths
That go dry when the saliva diminishes.

26. They are not like you, though you may think
Your hastening after them makes you precede.

27. Your ransom is concealed in you - no medicine
Can heal the rend between your shoulders.

28. If one envies and shoots at you
With arrows, the piercing tips strike you.

29. He wants your height but is unsuited for it,
While you are seasoned and clever in it.

30. When he acts as your rival, it shows
The blackness of one and the pallor of the other.

31. He saw you, and you were his heart's woe -
An eye half-closed by drowsiness.

32. You remained despite his rage, and we had joy -
How much good angers, just as it captivates!

33. The feast returns to your abode a thousand days,
Its setting upon you, its rising for you.

34. When time grows old, it comes to you still
Frisky in its tender youth.

35. Eloquent speech never attained the eloquence
Of this speech, for which the ancient house was circumambulated.

36. I made misfortunes pass you by, and they faded away,
Can flames survive a torrent?

37. The imbalance in me was corrected by your resolve,
When sincerity had rent its garments.

38. You undid my aloofness and captured my love -
Behold me, vigorous through you, even perky.

39. You made time answer me whenever I called it -
Where is the friend?

40. To continue virtues for you - my grateful creek
Poured forth, bubbling over.

41. Transmitted by the narrators, every verse
Has a bouquet, like the coo of a dove.

42. It made eloquent speech easy in my mouth -
Sweet talk and profound meaning.

43. It captivated eyes and ears until
My tongue was engrossed in savoring it.

44. Had another tasted it, his mouth would have wearied -
He would have died while still yearning for it.

45. It spreads your stature through bounties
Which the zephyr of honor makes fragrant.

46. If they were concealed they would refuse
To remain so, like musk that seeps out.

47. Your companionship is a breast split in three -
Two parts are for you, one part for me.

48. I trusted, thinking well of you, that no
Other affection would frequent its market.

49. And I feared time's eye for you - I made it
Jealous, goading it with my purposes.

50. So I hope through my devotion,
And fear through my tenderness.