1. My heart is unmatched in its flowing tears,
On my cheek I saw the image of an ant,

2. And I sat enthralled, directing my eyes,
At the sheen of its color and the greenness of its form.

3. I desire the one who rebukes while smiling, and it pleases me
To be called stubborn in my love of him and his coquetry.

4. Though the coquette, however sharp his mind,
Has not the heart of one who wounds your heart, O reproacher, then leave him be!

5. What is the mind of the youth to the flirt
In this yearning or in his ignorance?

6. By God's hidden wisdom you see
All creation satisfied with its own mind.

7. One is busy with some frivolity, another
With all that is praiseworthy and lofty in his occupation,

8. Just as the beauty of God's religion has a love
For its beauty, and a love of other things in carrying it.

9. The steadfast one's repose has not told of
Anything but his adherence to the most high with his rope,

10. And striving has not told of any path
Save to account for the lofty ones among its roads.

11. The one who was prevented from pursuing the lofty
And glory by his deficient knowledge,

12. And turned away the archers of early Islam
With generosity, some of which stands for all of it.

13. Were it not for the son of Mahmoud the praised
The composer would not have told of the sorrow of intimacy and its ease.

14. A reproach one sees as inadequate
If the usefulness of his hands does not fulfill it as a supererogatory act.

15. No dart thrown in archery
Is like a pen that takes our place like its blade.

16. How excellent on a branch is a lofty scion
Upon which the conversations of dew run down from its origin!

17. Wondrous is that scion which destroys what it sees
And protects the great capitals, settled in its shade.

18. It makes its clouds weep the tears of hoped-for rain
In the horizons, breezes from its loftiness.

19. If the likes of Rabi'a were among Wael,
No foot's place would be devoid of his bounty.

20. O you who traveled the doors of his dwellings,
Travel like a stranger to the dwellings of his family.

21. Thanks to your kindness to me over the long term,
Even if giving thanks pays only a small part of what I owe.