O God, keep me protected from the cruelty of that beloved; I do not even desire their favor or kindness.

Here, the poet portrays the indifferent beloved as a stone idol ('but')—breathtakingly beautiful, yet utterly heartless. In classic love poetry, the lover desperately begs for grace and affection, but here, he has reached a poignant breaking point where he no longer craves any tenderness at all. Exhausted by relentless emotional torment, he simply turns to God for protection, capturing that tragic moment when surviving love's cruelty matters more than winning its embrace.