1. I recalled a pact in the peninsula long past,
So I composed a ceaseless lament of longing.

2. I visited ruins in a meadow as if
They were the remnants of sheaths tossed aside.

3. O horizon of intimacy I once knew
Adorned with the blossoms of generous souls.

4. Seldom did the days bring you solace
As time passed you by only at night.

5. I survey you now with a tearful eye
And see my heart bereft within my chest.

6. I say to a caravan in the peninsula—halt!
Scatter the traces of love and melodies.

7. A home where we once found joy, now gone,
Of it time leaves only desires.

8. By God, I know not what to make of it,
Did I find there pleasures or lofty deeds?

9. In it the absent became present,
And the future of companionship became the past.

10. So speak to them, place of their dwellings,
Is it difficult to return my call?

11. I know not their lands though I pretend,
But I choose to speak well in address.

12. If I speak not my best to loved ones,
Where then is my devotion?

13. Does Abi ‘Amr ibn Hassun know
That I do not cease being a shepherd to our pact?

14. And by his father’s name, may his love
Ever remain within my heart.

15. His passion came to me begging my affection,
I gave him what he wished, save my heart.

16. ‘Twas not miserliness that held me back,
But fear that he’d be inflamed.

17. If lightning flashed from my horizons toward him,
‘Twould be but a spark of my fires.

18. And if rain poured from my eyelids because of him,
Would the valleys gain more than a drizzle?

19. O compliant caravan, set your course
To the land of Fez, and convey my greetings.

20. Give tidings to Abi ‘Amr there, for I
Have charged you, so thank me by exalting virtues.