1. Grant the abodes some fortitude
And cease the tears and grief's advocate

2. Go forth yourself, it's said with ease
A remedy for the blamer and the critic

3. Do you shy from a ruin you once grazed
As you wished of gazelle and song?

4. Nights have erased its landmarks
Be they flags or pillars raised

5. Passion in it left no trace
And decay no period stayed

6. I knew it once, where gathered
The deer, wolf and lion's shade

7. Days when passion's power seized
Sense and guidance were waylaid

8. The loved ones sent their goodbyes
No provision made for days ahead

9. Unhindered by the parting, prodded
As if waiting for morn's tread

10. They came and went, I gained no more
Than their tracks, finding naught instead

11. Would he on whom hope was placed
Finding no patience, have hoped or pled?

12. I saw them, their forms aroused
With trailing gowns and braids

13. As though its ribs had pierced
Heart and inner organs' bed

14. A thrilling voice beyond the litter
Of lineage true and virtue's thread

15. Emerging like the Oryx, aimless
Adorned with necklace on its head

16. She trots, drunk on pure honey
Flowing on ice amid the mead

17. You're done with me, I wish you well
I'm not of your mischief or your stead

18. Nights have sapped my fervor
I've let go of passion's twist and thread

19. Modesty and grey hairs trot my steed
On virtues' path so long misled

20. Today I hold the reins, but will
My wrists or hunt avail me now?

21. Don't settle, O guest of sorrows
Save settling amidst the barren spread

22. Rise up! If your land denies you
Provision, seek another stead!

23. Seek heights always! Many nights
Have passed with lofty aims unfed

24. Either "He strove and grasped it whole"
Or "He left and never turned his head"

25. Say to fate who overspent me
"You overreached, so hold your tread!"

26. What anguish sinks into my core
What marvels my shoulders spread

27. Strange wonders beyond my thoughts
Miracles my mind never read!

28. Shall I call out from my pure spring
Cast out to the salty bed?

29. Shall I thirst in a diseased land
Lower than the beasts, searching for my bread?

30. Does my kinship help while fate toys
With my hopes on mountain's crest?

31. Time has turned against me
When once I hoped it brought me rest

32. None were kinder in my plight
Than my father, my sons, blood and best

33. Good faith in them bore no fruit
I've lost faith in all the rest

34. Had it been between us as between
Myself and the wolf or lion's zest

35. I'd have fled from this to sanctuary
And from this to a shoulder's nest

36. I'd have been few in number
And few in might, always the less

37. Shielding me when times' injustices
Stir and my skin cannot find rest

38. Had my gift been cause for hatred
It would not have stood the test

39. Rather had I tossed my praise of you
Into the deep tumultuous sea's breast

40. It would have cast up to me the finest pearl
And given my home the sweetest drink, the best

41. How many hopes I've harbored
Only to unwrap the knots depressed

42. As it sent me back in sorrow
And refused me in hardship dressed

43. Words are mocked by every mouth
And lineage smeared by every hand

44. Now let feet stand firm if they can
On embers, solid, unsuppressed

45. Let them bear my lightning strike
And settle well the desert's test

46. May disaster befall and uncover
His canopy, evading watch and rest

47. With ferocity to check each hand
And openings mocking coat of mail and vest

48. White as eggs, unchanged by nature
Dark as soot, markings never stressed

49. Till by its sharp blades he tastes
Stabs unlike the well-aimed lancer's thrust

50. And when it deals its deadly blow
I'll aid without pause or rest

51. My wanting went astray, and hope in him
Misguided, empty-handed left me limp, depressed

52. So I swear no hand will I extend
To another, that is the best

53. First mistake I made, and last forevermore
To the end of time, til I'm laid to rest.