1. I was content to disobey the reproacher,

    but not to part from the clinging malady.

  2. For the one who stirred it up

    departed, leaving it as my companion.

  3. I will not, for one who is present, squander—

    though it grieves me—the absent one’s sanctity.

  4. And many a cup, by drinking which I defied

    the vicissitudes of usurping Time.

  5. Then, when it saw it could not soft—

    —en my side toward it ever afterward,

  6. it saw fit to surrender my reason to the cup:

    from one plunderer to another.

  7. A full-breasted maiden passed it around,

    and a graceful youth, like the full-breasted maiden,

  8. among youths who wrong Ti—

    —me and never submit to an obligation.

  9. Time veers away from them: it is on one side

    of the earth, and the company on another.

  10. It is as though, in generosity, they followed

    the counsel of Abu al-Hasan the Secretary—

  11. a noble youth who never ceases seeking, intent

    on gratitude from every visitor who comes seeking;

  12. a man of resolve that pelts adversi—

    —ties with every piercing meteor at its command.

  13. His spirit has driven his wealth

    under the sway of a lavish, irresistible nature.

  14. And there has eluded everyone who hopes in—

    —him all knowledge of false hope.

  15. Virtues he possesses by innate nature,

    conceded even by the faultfinder’s hand.

  16. His detractors themselves attested their truth—

    and how truthful is praise from a detractor!

  17. How many times he has bestowed gifts upon me,

    yet credits me with the favor of the giver.

  18. Among mankind there is wealth without a giver

    in plenty—and praise with no one to earn it.

Sol 5.6