Sol 6.1

  1. Enough for me and you, from knowledge and experience,

    is that youth has passed along the path to gray hair.

  2. Worry has left us neither bodies nor strength

    with which to strive after discipline and refinement.

  3. We are now harmed by our compassion and dignity,

    just as we are harmed by food and drink.

  4. We see hopes entice us and deceive us;

    and if we resolve to act, our prize is falsehoods.

  5. How often we were enamored of a fortune that was veiled,

    and now it is no longer hidden from us.

  6. Had our eyes seen it in our cradle days,

    we would have turned to nothing but games.

  7. If the earth is empty of what I sought,

    what use to me is traveling east and west?

  8. My hope and my despair have become the two causes of my death;

    between them, my cheer and my scowl are all the same.

  9. Two opposites: this one pushes me, and I am pulled

    by that one—what patience can one have, pushed and pulled?

  10. If I had some of the ignorance of those who laugh at

    the cruelty of events, I would not grieve for the afflicted.

  11. If they draw near, they tire; or if they draw away, they reproach.

    Ah, my bewilderment between keeping them distant and bringing them near!

  12. If my wisdom bears fruit among the people of Egypt, then

    I am content with their greetings and welcome.

  13. I indeed have little desire for wealth, placing no burden

    on them, and keep far from resentment and reproach.

  14. Had I as much power to do good as one

    who does harm, I would pass the night with my vengeance unsought.

  15. My own soul's pains do not distract me

    from a distressed friend who complains of pain.

  16. May pledge and covenant be void if

    one day the showers from his eyes precede my own.

  17. Listen, my brother, to a brother weeping for the loss of a brother,

    in youth's bloom, true in affection, beloved.

  18. One who united in a noble soul

    the piety of the Turks with the warmth of the Arabs;

  19. one who would read the poetry of us both and praise us,

    so that we would pass the night eager and encouraged;

  20. one whose side none could assail with injustice,

    nor would he soften toward an undefeated foe.

  21. Wait, you who bid us farewell—life is turbulent,

    beneath the wing of a night, dreaded as the sea's depths.

  22. You used to grow angry when I announced to you a young man's death;

    and now my style in announcing your own death pleases you.

  23. If indeed we were created for refinement and honor,

    then we were also created for thought and torment.

  24. People's waywardness increases our compassion for them;

    we two are strange indeed, in an age of marvels.

Sol 6.1