1. Original thought protected me from error
And virtue's ornament adorned me when unemployed

2. My early glory and my later glory is my creed
And the sun is the splendor of morn as it is in the young

3. Why should I stay in barren lands, no rest for me
Neither my camel nor belongings are there

4. Far from family, an empty hand is lonely
Like a sword stripped bare, its blade free of notches

5. No friend to confide my sorrow
No companion to share my ardour

6. My estrangement has been so prolonged that my mount yearns
As does its saddle, and the water-skin is shriveled

7. It bellows from a desire for lush greenery and neighs when
My feet approach and the herd plunges into mire

8. I need an outstretched hand to help me
Fulfill my obligations to the noble folk

9. Yet fate reverses my hopes and after such toil
Rewards me with but a lock

10. One whose hips are like a spear's blade, reserved
For the likes of him, neither timid nor backed

11. Mirth's charm mingled with the bitterness of seriousness
With the harshness of valor is the softness of dalliance

12. I drove away the grazing beasts from the pasture they love
And night made drowsy the eyes' guardians with a wink

13. The caravan inclines tipsily to the sand dunes
One shouting, another drunk on love

14. So I called on you in the darkness to help me
Yet you failed me in the grave event

15. My eyes sleep while the eyes of stars keep watch
And night's hue changes but dawn has not broken

16. Will you guide me through the dark on my intended course
Though the course deters at times from stumbling

17. I want to seek the lively from the wretched
Whom archers of Tha'labah's clan have shot

18. Guarding white swords and brown lances are they
With vultures over the valley awaiting the slain

19. Lead us in the dark's leading rope guided
By the wafting scent to the twisting roads

20. For love is where the enemy is, crouching,
Its blades amid the spear-grass and wild onion

21. Their presence enhances the perfume of discourse
Unlike the cowardice and stinginess of others

22. The fire of passion burns within them while the fire
Of war burns on the hilltops from their hands

23. They slay the oryx of unrequited love without resistance
And slaughter the noble horses and camels

24. In their homes the bite of love is healed
By a sip of sweet wine and honey

25. Perhaps calamity will spur me again
To seek a cure for my maladies

26. No longer do I dislike a slender spear
Made pleasant by a glance from doe-like eyes

27. Nor do I fear the whiteness of the sword; it brings me joy
With a flash from the white swords amid darkness

28. I will not abandon the gazelles I flirt with
Even if the murky night ensnares me

29. The love of safety makes its pursuer refrain
From noble goals and tempts one to laziness

30. If you incline to it, make a tunnel in the ground
Or a ladder into the sky and withdraw

31. Leave the rising torrent to those who plunged
Into its tide, content with their mouths' sip

32. The lowly are content with base living; it degrades them
While honor lies in the breeze at dusk

33. So repel with it the twisting attacks
Of opponents, like the brandishing of spears in battle

34. For eminence has told me, truthfully in her tale,
That honor lies in rising ground

35. If the glory of home ensured safe haven
The sun would never roam from Aries

36. I applied myself though none heeded my call
While fortune from me was diverted and busy

37. Perhaps if my merit and their deficiency appeared
To its eye, it would wake to me or sleep to them

38. I justify my soul with hopes, keeping watch over them
How narrow life would be but for the scope of hope!

39. I never approved of living when days were still ahead
How then can I approve when they raced heedlessly away?

40. My soul was too dear to sell it cheaply, debased
So I protected it from the vulgar and trite

41. It is the blade's custom to be adorned by its essence
And it only works in the hands of a hero

42. Never did I prefer my days to drag on
Until I saw the state of villains and the lowly

43. I was surpassed by people whose standing
Once trailed my steps when I walked at ease

44. Such is the fate of one whose peers progressed
Before him, so he wished for a lengthening reprieve

45. If others rose above me, it is no surprise
I emulate the sun's descent below Saturn

46. So be patient with it, neither cunning nor vexed
By the blows of fate; tricks are of no avail

47. Treat your worst enemy with more mistrust than one you trusted
And accompany people tentatively

48. In truth the only man in the world
Is one who does not rely on others in this world

49. Your good assumptions about days are miraculous
So assume the worst and remain wary

50. Loyalty has vanished and betrayal spread
The space between words and deeds widened

51. While your honesty is peculiar to people
Can the crooked be matched to the upright?

52. If anything ensures their commitment
To pacts, it is the precedence of the sword to reason

53. O you who endured a life of bitterness
You spent your life in sorrow during your early days

54. Why do you obstruct the sea-surge you board
When a handful of water suffices you?

55. The kingdom of contentment is secure, requiring
No allies or guards for protection

56. You hope to remain in a home that is not lasting
Did you ever hear of a shadow that moves not?

57. O wise one, informed of secrets
Be silent, for in silence lies salvation from slips

58. They have nominated you for a matter; if you are perceptive
Free yourself, do not pasture with the sheep