1. A ghost I see, or is that a figment of imagination?
No, but a maiden by the dunes I spy.

2. She has reached marriageable age, yet has no suitor,
No guardian, no protector here for her.

3. Grieving, she almost rekindles the darkness of night
Into a fire with her long, anguished moans.

4. What ails her so? And why am I troubled by her?
Why must I share her torment, what is she to me?

5. I drew near, her voice falling sweetly on my ears,
Like arrows following arrows in succession.

6. I asked who she was, and she was like a drawing
On the remnants of ruins amongst ruins.

7. She tossed fretfully, saying she has not known
The taste of sleep since nights gone by.

8. Her father died, her mother died,
Her uncle and aunt left her behind.

9. Modesty then tied her tongue
As copious tears flowed from her eyes.

10. So I understood what the maiden hid, though
The likes of me empathize with her likes.

11. I watched her as if I were a worshipper
In a temple gazing upon an idol.

12. I saw the signs of beauty destined
To decline, however weighty they are.

13. Nothing affects souls like the form
Of a delicate beauty worn thin with sorrow,

14. Or one who would show you, when she appeared,
The sun in daylight, but is now like the moon.

15. I said arise, but she said how can the dead
Rise from their graves and the withered walk?

16. So I carried her frail skeleton as if
I carried a wisp of straw.

17. And I went about that night, gathering the helpless
From the ward for orphan children.

18. I walked carrying two wretched souls, with Death
Knocking on the door of life and decline at hand.

19. I cried for them as if I were a third kindred spirit,
Full of compassion and eager to help.

20. I knocked on the door without hesitation
Or care for any inquiry or request.

21. I knocked like a traveler come back from his journey
Or like the homeowner, indifferent.

22. Then voices cried, "Open the door!"
The knocks of the gravely ill in haste.

23. And gentle, charitable hands accustomed
To doing good hastened to respond.

24. Each competing in benevolence with the other
For the sake of God, not wealth or fame.

25. They took from me gently, as a mother would coddle
Her child, lavishing upon it her care.

26. And the doctor rolled up his sleeves, and then
She was above the pillows in an elevated place.

27. They brought all kinds of remedies and tended
To their guest on her bed as if she were family.

28. The doctor knelt to feel her faint pulse
And discover the origin of her fatal illness.

29. When he drew near to check her heart,
He knew not if it was a beating heart or a throbbing termite hill.

30. I bid her farewell and left her with her people,
At peace and content.

31. I was unable to thank those who gave selflessly
For lasting works and righteous deeds.

32. They did not shame her by asking her name -
Such is their chivalry and noble sentiment!

33. The best of all crafts among mankind is one
That signals through its doer a refusal of humiliation.

34. When generosity is given without draining
The faces of their color, that is the best charity.

35. One who gives after being asked is considered generous,
While the miser is counted among the stingy.

36. God bless them! How many miserable souls
Whom life treats harshly with ill fortune -

37. Casting them from hunger to nakedness,
From illness to destitution and exhaustion -

38. With a tearful eye, a desolate heart,
A troubled soul, and empty pockets,

39. Their observer knows not if naked or clad
In those ragged clothes they appear to be in.

40. As if the bees that once shaped his body
Left holes in his garment through which you could sift.

41. O cold! You have triumphed over one exposed!
O heat! That is easy prey for the assassin!

42. O eyes! Weep! O hearts! Break!
O soul! Tremble! O manhood! Protect her!

43. Were it not for them, his woes would have destroyed him,
And death seized its opportunity to take him.

44. Were it not for them, ruin would have befallen
The soul of the poor laden with burdens.

45. God bless those who stay up nights with the suffering!
They sacrificed sleep, agony, and toil.

46. Those who bring the good to which
Civilization, religions, and generations call.

47. They care for the orphan, shelter him, guard him,
And are the springtime for the distressed and downtrodden.

48. In your charity, do not neglect good works,
For you know not the consequences of negligence!

49. To me, your poor are in need, if only you knew,
Of a Speaker whose deeds are effective.

50. So race to good works! For they are before you,
An arena of competition for the giving and the generous.

51. The benefactors will have tenfold reward
On the Day of Requital for their benefaction.

52. The recompense of the Lord of the benefactors transcends
Counting, weighing, and measuring.