1. Absent you were, I pined for you
Yearning for you, longing for news of you

2. Until when people came, all but me
Were welcomed, while I was no longer wanted

3. I ignored you though we met, which displeased you
With patience, though patience hurts the patient one

4. And I said to myself, be as you were
When he was away, on his journey

5. Praise God for the nights, O wise one
fortunate is he who learns from them

6. The best a poor man can do, after piety
To God, and chastity, is tend to his ruin