1. O spear when bent,
O crescent when full,

2. Your glance learned from the sword its sharpness.
Each day it hangs a shadow over us and stalks off.

3. O you standing firm on the heights, do you not know contentment?
Shall I ever see in your love a day of union shine bright?

4. By my father, angry and aloof is he who wakes and sleeps.
My stumbling therein is beyond words, and my debt beyond payment.

5. O my friend, when you pass by the thickets of Layla,
Weep for me so long that their brushwood is soaked.

6. And imagine for me a tear, for I've been lending tears.
Tell the censurers: "The lover dwelling in Tayma is no more."

7. They left him sick with longing, diseased with hopes.
Ah, the lightning on the right flank of Al-Ghawr, flashing

8. Reminding me—I've not forgotten—of nights with Layla.
O days, sweetest of all was my life with you, and yet you passed.

9. Time forgot us for a spell and turned away.
We haven't fulfilled the wish of the soul until it passed.

10. Return, for in the heart remains the ember of grief over your distance.