1. I fell ill from the absence of a beloved who was distant
Perhaps the phantom of my bliss will return and recur

2. And how can the phantom return from his heart
While it is fuel for the fires of passion and tinder

3. By the unique, unmatched lesson we both learned
Gazelles took shelter among the black gazelles

4. And whites belong to her, the thin, delicate whites
And chestnuts belong to her, the smooth, svelte chestnuts

5. My visitor has been long absent, yet how far
Is the sullen lover from the gates of correspondence

6. And I have a slender-waisted, smooth-necked doe
Her gowns are ragged, her blankets are coarse

7. Disheveled, tousled, her waist wrap comes undone
In her cheeks are wine and embers, lacking stillness or slumber

8. When she walks, flowing in the dust behind her
Are black tresses from those braids, dark black

9. What ruddy gazelle sings more sweetly
To make you forget she can barely bleat

10. Fate cast him a barbed arrow
So blood flowed freely from his veins

11. She passed by in fear and bereavement while his body
Oozed with spilled blood

12. More agonized than I on the day of concealment, when
The caravan said "Where are you headed?"

13. If I was asked what I wished for when
Old age had left me frail, I'd say: "To return!"