1. It is longing, though the beds find no rest,
And the affliction of passion, though ribs grow narrow.

2. My friend, what is this parting to me so easy,
To me, and no tryst of lovers lost?

3. Not yearning, though lovers have packed up and left,
Not patience, though separation persists beneficent.

4. And though the cure of love is for passion to cease,
So bid me farewell - but when did we purpose to meet?

5. My eyelids will not be mastered by sleep,
Kept awake as the stars voyage over the beds.

6. They are accustomed to not be stemmed, my tears,
Until the secret is bare and far spread.

7. My excuse before the days is not censure keeping them back,
Nor reproach making them yield.

8. For they are not, in blaming me, sympathetic,
Nor do they, in beauty, return to me.

9. They make my drinking bitter, though his wine is pure,
And they narrow my breast, though it was open and wide.

10. They have tortured me, so the face of demands has darkened,
And my affairs grew straitened, the horizons shut to me.

11. Were it not for the aid of the King, a suitor would fail,
And hopes be driven back on their heels.

12. Remote from the realm of care would be best - it could not be
That sorrows so sublime should fill this breast.

13. A mystery is the tread of guile, imperceptible
To the keenest intellect, nor penetrated by cunning.

14. And if any creature deviated from the decree of fate,
Then would the divine web itself be undone.

15. Eager for the finest of virtues, steadfast,
Awake of mind, though care weighs heavy on the eyelids.

16. Bold, when fear threatens his family,
Yet gentle, when eyes are turned to him in hope.

17. When he appears, eyes are dazzled and necks bent in awe,
When he departs, necks are craned, eager for a glimpse.

18. Nothing occupies the eyes but his splendor,
Nor attends the ears save mention of him.

19. He observes how matters will unfold, as though
Their mysteries before they happen are displayed to him.

20. So his breast in time of need is not straitened,
Nor his nature, before the seeker of bounty, withheld.

21. He sprang forth and declined the help of hands,
So they aided him, and he outstripped even zeal.

22. Will you not, O trustee of the kingdom, hear the complaint
Of one aggrieved by Time and its crushing misfortunes?

23. Shall I be deprived, while others are called and approach you,
Profiting, while in my share with you is loss?

24. Am I not deserving, with you, of favor?
Rightfully mine the finest of your treasures?

25. Should I not be trusted to keep safe your hand extended,
Since hands bestowed are a trust kept by the noble?

26. Am I not proof against the sly innuendo
Of him whose heart disguises, though his face deceives?

27. His surface with you is peace, though underneath he wars,
His open manner concord, while inwardly he divides.

28. I am not made desolate by want such as yours,
But I am devastated to be exiled from sincere virtue.

29. My greatest failing is that my merits
Have dispossessed me, leaving no means beyond them.

30. If my portion provides me only bitterness,
Then no path leads grateful souls to me.

31. And if in the clouds you find only lightning,
Then no liberal showers fall from the heavens.

32. Are you content that I attached myself to your heights,
Only for their strength in my hands to fail?

33. So keep me not, aspiring to your abundance,
Like one trying to grasp water, whose fingers cannot contain it.

34. Why then neglect glory in my person, when
You pursue it in others, and adopt it?

35. Why turn your face from me, and hide it,
When your visage is luminous, your greeting effulgent?

36. I thought to attain by your grace some small eminence,
But here am I, fallen again into your disfavor.

37. I humble myself before my lessers and dole out my lead,
Then turn my eyes down in shame and confusion.

38. Those of humbler merit are advanced over me,
While I dissemble, though merit is my loss.

39. Of what benefit that I die in probity,
If no advocate for me speaks with your tongue?

40. And truly I am ashamed before your glory
To be seen as one deprived of fortune, abandoned.

41. That was no failing in my due estimation,
But a decree that came to pass despite all efforts.

42. I am left as one ruin has toppled the pillar of glory,
And destroyed the shoots planted in the soil of merit.

43. Content that abasement be reserved for me, while the eminent
Prospers - though matched in grace we never were.

44. Yet I hope that kindness from you may assist me,
For without attaining what is sought, nothing prevents it.

45. Else I must depart the field of ignominy,
Though urges pull me toward you, and attractions.

46. But the earth will not swallow me until my soul
In remembrance of you burns, and turns to you in passion.

47. So if the beautiful calls me back to your side,
Then there is no one who praises and honors you as I do.