1. Take it, my dear brother,
A memory more gentle than perfume,

2. And sweeter than the whispers of love
Between the beloved and her lover.

3. Take it, gentler than forgetfulness
In the verdant garden's foliage,

4. And remember our wanderings
In the hut of childhood and along the road.

5. You and I were like two prisoners,
Bound in tight shackles.

6. We walked like a lost boat
In the angry deep sea.

7. We yelled at the ravens in friendship,
With voices of wailing.

8. And when you reminded me of food,
I ate my own breaths and leaves.

9. Those were days when we stole pomegranates
In the deep valley,

10. And came back along the road,
While the night bowed, a gentle companion!

11. We feared the whispers of the winds,
And the specter's sudden movements,

12. Until we reached our home,
With family in dire straits.

13. My uncle would shout in anger,
With his raspy voice.

14. And there our grandmother would scold us
With the scolding of a loving one.

15. She wished for life though her thread grew thin,
While my parents circled us,

16. Sighing and moaning,
Complaining of sorrows like the drowning to the drowned.

17. Their complaint was a silence,
Like the complaints of the lost against the blaze.

18. They stared at the stillness
And the shivering of the ancient hut.

19. The night listened to the croaking frogs
As they chattered noisily.

20. The shooting stars shone like goblets
On lips of carnelian.

21. Nearby were people with the radiance
Of a free life, untroubled by songs or cries.

22. You'd think him a man, but beneath his clothes lurked
A true beast.

23. He pretended to have a noble soul,
With the scent of fine musk.

24. They talked of money, the conversation of
Traders in slaves.

25. They selected flashy clothes
That enticed with their glimmer.

26. And exquisite models
For elegant vulgarity.

27. They walked in silk fabrics -
These were men of silk!

28. As if tailored and sewn
By a skilled weaver and tailor.

29. If not for the deception of their clothes,
They would be selling donkeys in the market.

30. Poor in spirit though acting like men,
Mocking the destitute.

31. Questioning fate with men,
About life's problems and destiny.

32. While their own fate was the brothel
And the tavern of ill repute.

33. There was a young maiden,
Sweeter than the pouring rain.

34. Her gaze held the language
Of promiscuity and moral corruption.

35. Her talk was like a brook,
Babbling silver streams.

36. A beauty displaying her charms
To the wealthy and the laborer.

37. For her beauty was like nature -
Noble and base could admire.

38. In her walk was the dance of the gazelle
And a fawn's innocent joy.

39. Parts of her beauty seemed to love
Other parts of her stirring charm.

40. Her father's death in the flower
Of his youth was pitiful.

41. He was a man who aided the weak,
The strongest ally.

42. He cared and gave generously,
To child and elder alike.

43. His hands gave freely what he owned,
Even his final breath.

44. So his lovely daughter melted away
Like anemones in the waste.

45. She wept to my sister
As a prisoner weeps to another prisoner.

46. She walked on the thorns of tragedy,
Of red blight and bitter orphanhood.

47. She trod on the thorns
While sorrow broke her heart.

48. Grief marked her features
Like doubt in a jealous heart.

49. She shed her clothes and nature dressed her
In a robe of peerless beauty.

50. Nature painted her features
With the glow of the shining moon.

51. With the flame of radiant summer,
And the calm of the gloomy night.

52. With the fluttering of patient trees
In the gentle jasmine breeze.

53. With rays of light, fragrance,
And sincerity of limpid water.

54. So joy and light embraced her,
Like rays and perfume.

55. Before longing, her beauty smiled,
While sorrow bowed her breast!

56. Tell me, brother, do you remember
Our lovely neighbor?

57. She rose above the baseness of dust
And earth's thickness.

58. She pitied the madmen of temptation,
For she had a loving heart.

59. Nature's daughter, she was the shadow
Of love and life's joy.

60. She was the springtime of wishes
And the poet's songs.

61. So listen as I recount what remains
Of the tale of times gone by.

62. Memories brought this back to me,
And what are memories if not

63. The immortality of man?
Look closely - you will see your past in her,

64. For she is its clear image.
Alas! How miserable is the one of keen heart

65. In this foolish world.
How wise was "Guide" - and how righteous

66. Was his brilliant ascent!
He was the smiles of the grieving,

67. And the joy of the ardent soul.
If not a prophet, then his spirit

68. Was most prophetic.
Thieves killed him in the valley,

69. So he vanished like the brilliant sun.
My cousin scorned him,

70. Yet he bore no bitterness.
And who is my cousin? An ignorant lout

71. Like the darkness of pagan times,
Who eyed us greedily, as the ungrateful eye

72. Their prey.
We were bare, while he swam in riches

73. And imperial clothes.
We melted from the burning thirst

74. While he drank his fill.
The cup smiled in his hand

75. Like a boy's smiles.
Generosity bloomed in his orchard,

76. Bearing ripe clusters.
Until he married four wives -

77. One a wretched shrew.
His wealth disappeared like smoke

78. In the gloom of nightfall.
So he came to us and we met

79. Like prisoners undergoing an ordeal.
Autumn came and its palm

80. Promised fruits of regret.
The living feared annihilation

81. And events took a new turn.
The relentless sky moved

82. And an easy world arrived.
The valley flourished with the breezes

83. Of radiant paradises.
Tell me, brother, do you remember

84. Our wondrous past days?
Take it, my dear one, a lavish tale

85. Of intimate conversation.
And farewell, my brother, until we meet again

86. In another delightful tale.
I conclude this book with the most sincere

87. Greetings and regards!