1. They said you were grieved, so I replied: “Yes, a calamity
Whose severity was great and the way was narrow.

2. How can there be solace when the most beloved one
Has left us, bidding us farewell, the hoary elder!

3. The talebearers set out and took him far away, though oftentimes
A loved one, even if near, may still seem far.

4. By God! The day you went from me wandering
And I was deprived of your nearness—what loss can I make good?

5. My soul is divided: one part stays
While the other on the morrow goes its own way.

6. Now when your furnishings are complete
And a fascinating hue calls eyes to you,

7. When the best iron is chosen for you
Unpolished, and the rarest bracelets,

8. When you jangle the bridle bits as though
Bells were ringing in your every limb,

9. When a cloud envelops you like a canopy
And you seem a star beneath the canopy,

10. My friend saw in you a reverence toward me
While my foe’s breast burned with enmity,

11. I can never forget you so long as
My soul continues remembering you.

12. When I saw myself grown old and weak
While your ropes gained strength from my sinews,

13. I returned crestfallen when I returned from you.
By God! That deaf greybeard has done me wrong!

14. So let it be known: lasting hostility
Lies in wait within me, and vengeance is sought.

15. My companion! Who but you in such a case
Could befriend a man throughout his life?

16. If you brought good fortune, ‘twas a kindness
Rewarded; if not, no kindness goes amiss.

17. Upright, you granted my request and avoided
Spreading tales—yes, that is best.

18. Do not let that old fool know of us,
For the hopeless have no plea to make before him.

19. Or else suppress talk of him, for that
Is nearer to wisdom’s path, and preferable.

20. Do not inform him of us, for the lovestruck
Have no complaint that he would recognize.

21. Stop, bid him hello, then take your leave,
Sparing your glance, which pleases little the welcomed one.

22. Sleep was denied me by the burning of love’s ember
Enveloping my deeper self, and worries ever building.

23. My heart inclined toward the tavern throng and passion clave it—
There a form toward my heart appealing was beloved.

24. So long as I live, his memory too shall live
A shredded liver, an ever-pouring eye!