Faithful and Kind a Friend I Hoped

Faithful and kind a friend I hoped that thou wouldest prove to me;
Who would have thought so cruel and fierce a tyrant in thee to see?

Thou who the newly-oped rose art of the Garden of Paradise,
That every thorn and thistle thou lov'st — how can it fitting be?

I curse thee not, but of God Most High, Our Lord, I make this prayer —
That thou may'st love a pitiless one in tyranny like to thee.

In such a plight am I now, alack! that the curser saith to his foe:
"Be thy fortune dark and thy portion dark, even as those of Mihrî!"