1. If I were to keep a lover in this life,
The best of my loved ones would be an Egyptian farmer

2. A generous man who fills the valley with wealth
Yet only encounters injustice for his reward

3. A poor man whom I never see complain of poverty
And if he were rewarded for his toil, he would be rich

4. He was content with the livelihood of captives
So how is he now that he is free in the kingdom?

5. To me, a plow that cleaves the earth
And brings forth grain from its folds is

6. Like a sword in a soldier's hand that met
An army and an impregnable fortress

7. If my people knew what was right
They would not scorn his work and worth

8. Exalt and please him, and be kind to him
And so gain glory and victory for themselves

9. Were it not for the fear of the likes of me
For the vicissitudes of time that make the noble vile

10. I would have let him drink his fill
And dressed him in silk in his old age