1. He is truly lost, no "perhaps" or "maybe"
So why does my soul not overflow with sorrow near him?

2. Why does my heart not melt with regret from him?
Cursed is this heart, so quick to forget!

3. Why do my eyelids not flow as a spring
Of tears now boiling, now tranquil?

4. Why does my tongue not eloquently speak
Words it would have uttered had it kept its vow?

5. After I buried my soul in the dust
And cast away the apple of my heart as carrion,

6. After the parting of my son Abu al-Qasim, who
Dressed me in the raiment of bereavement, not what I would have worn,

7. Can I hope for life in this world and be content
With its tents, when my verses and dwellings are desolate?

8. Alas! There is no rest for the grieving one within it,
No escape for the troubled breast except to gasp for air.

9. I spent my life fruitlessly, wasting my goods,
So surrender me to the grave, lost and penniless.

10. I tarried in heedlessness and ignorance
Until the arrow of parting shot forth and hit its mark.

11. I complain to God of the intensity of my sorrow,
Which has overwhelmed my heart and fully possessed it.

12. The blows of fate struck me one evening,
So neither complaining availed me nor caring was of use.

13. They split my family asunder and silenced my fighters;
They demolished my firm, well-founded pillar.

14. I showed it patience in the face of its impact,
So my beautiful patience was not shaken once firmly rooted.

15. But it has a fire fueled from within,
Disturbing my peaceful night with whispers.

16. I hope we will meet with His pleasure and acceptance,
I fear we will suffer from a sin and be debased.

17. O Abu al-Qasim, hear the complaint of your father,
Who has tasted from the cups of separation the most bitter of draughts.

18. Since you left, I have dedicated my heart to sorrow—
Be witness that it will not cease, a heart held captive!

19. I have cut off all hopes in other people,
Caring not whether one treats me well or ill.

20. You were my sun, my moon, my eyes—
Since you hid, my existence has been darkness.

21. You left me with a heavy burden of grief,
Nothing wearies the soul and makes it more wretched than bereavement.

22. O you fresh, verdant branch, when you straightened up you deserted me,
Leaving me lonelier by multiples than when you gave me company.

23. O blessing, when I attained you, you vanished,
Improving my state by what has become most miserable.

24. I bade you farewell as tears poured down,
Like liquid poured from a precious, molded vessel.

25. I kissed that brow farewell
To one more precious to me than my soul and my breath.

26. If only this death would accept a ransom—
We would ransom him with wealth, generosity, and souls.

27. But it is a decree from God that must be,
To which the best of mortals must submit.

28. May the Merciful cover you in pardon and acceptance,
And hallow your splendid abode to sanctify it!

29. And reunite us in the garden of the Exalted,
To drink in the zephyr and wear silk.