الْمَقَامَةُ الْمَعَرِّيَّةُ

English: Then the judge turned to the elder and said: Come on, without embellishment!

Yoruba: Nígbà náà ni adájọ́ yíjú sí àgbàlagbà náà ó sì wí pé:Tún alààyè tiẹ̀ náà ṣe, má ṣe fi àwọ̀n ọ̀rọ̀ dídùn kún un!

English: He said: I swear by the sacred shrine and by those devotees gathered in the valley of Mina.

Yoruba: Ó sọ pé: Mo búra pẹ̀lú ibi mímọ́ náà àti àwọn olùjọsìn tí wọ́n péjọ ní àfonífojì Mina.

English: If times had favored me, he would not have seen me holding his kohl stick as a pledge.

Yoruba: Bí àwọn ọjọ́ bá ti fàyè gba mi, kò ní rí mi tí mo di igi tìrò rẹ̀ mú gẹ́gẹ́ bí ẹ̀rí.

English: Nor would I have sought a replacement or price for a needle that perished.

Yoruba: Bẹ́ẹ̀ ni n kò ní máa wá ẹ̀rọ́ tàbí iye fún abẹ́rẹ́ kan tó ti parun.

English: But the bow of misfortunes shoots at me with deadly arrows from here and there.

Yoruba: Ṣùgbọ́n ọrun ìpọ́njú ń ta mí pẹ̀lú àwọn ọfà olóró láti ibí àti ìhín.

English: The news of my condition is like the news of his: harm, misery, estrangement, and exhaustion.

Yoruba: Ìròyìn ipò mi dàbí ìròyìn tirẹ̀: ìpalára, òṣì, àjèjì, àti àárẹ̀.

English: Time has equalized between us, so I am his counterpart in misery, and he is me.

Yoruba: Àkókò ti ṣe ìdájọ́ láàrin wa, nítorí náà mo jẹ́ ẹlẹgbẹ́ rẹ̀ nínú ìpọ́njú, òun sì ni èmi.

English: He cannot release his kohl applicator as it has become pledged in my hand.

Yoruba: Kò le tú igi tìrò rẹ̀ sílẹ̀ nítorí ó ti di ohun ìdógò ní ọwọ́ mi.

English: Nor do I have room, due to my poverty, for forgiveness when he transgressed.

Yoruba: Bẹ́ẹ̀ ni n kò ní ààyè, nítorí òṣì mi, láti dáríjì nígbà tí ó ṣẹ̀.

English: So this is my story and his story, look at us, between us, and for us.

Yoruba: Nítorí náà èyí ni ìtàn mi àti ìtàn rẹ̀, wo wá, láàrin wa, àti fún wa.