XXXIX: If kings have a liking for the throne…

If kings have a liking for the throne and the sceptre,
Lovers have a partiality for ruin and desolation.

There is no such injurious effect, in the agony of love,
That those afflicted with it, desire any cure.

Like Joseph, he will descend into the well of grief,
Who hath a desire for the ascension unto gladness.

My heart hath now grown cold with regard to passion:
It hath a yearning towards the waves and billows of woe

Wittingly, the prince of reason engulpheth himself,
Who hath a longing for the taxes of the country of love.

What compassion do the amorous eyes of the fair possess,
When they always have a desire for an occasion to slay?

Hamid will, at all events, bear the burden, notwithstanding;
Since he nourisheth a fondness for thy capricious ways.