1. You were cheerful at times, full of joy,
How could that be when grey hair has exalted you?

2. Yearning brings your memory back to my heart
When hearts are oblivious to yearning.

3. The gloom of father Numayr distresses me
So my heart is saddened by his sorrow.

4. I said to him, may God guide you, wait,
The best word comes from an aching heart.

5. Maybe this hardship I'm in
Will be followed by relief soon.

6. So a fearful one feels safe and a strained one relieved,
And the distant exile returns home.

7. If only the winds were harnessed
To quickly serve our needs.

8. Then the north wind informs us when it comes
And the south wind informs our families about us.

9. For we have resided in the abode of affliction,
So death misses us or hits its mark.

10. If today's morning turns its back,
Tomorrow is near for its viewer.

11. Sulayma knows my return to the valiant
Is with hands that can handle a cross.

12. My nature is generous and I
When wars bare their claws

13. I assist its virtues and overcome
Its evils when armies attack.

14. I have melody in grand deeds
And I'm called to act so I respond.

15. No neighbor fears my betrayal
Nor does a stranger fear my strangeness.

16. How many a companion has parted from me
I was stricken by his loss, and he was the beloved.

17. Yet I didn't show the grief my chest bore
Over him, though I'm the sorrowful one,

18. Fearing an enemy would see me weak
Or a relative would speak ill of it.

19. And a defamer would gloat and think
I'm broken by the blows of fate.

20. After you, enemies obstructed my path
And time played tricks on me.

21. You denied the era and all my people
And your total absence confused me.

22. Eyes used to be lowered before me
Even if hearts swelled with rage.

23. But events have left of you a pillar
A steadfast cross sorrows cannot shake.

24. Though death may arrive at any time
And calamities continue to strike.