1. A specter sailed gently in the evening, so I greeted him,
The breeze of ebony diffusing its scent.

2. He leaned from the singer's melody, a visitor,
Generous with the flow of tears, raining his song.

3. He lingered over the pebbles and sand,
As if cured, but for fantasy and its gravel.

4. He reminded me of days of bliss,
That tender life we once lived.

5. May God protect that fantasy which sailed,
Sailed to shepherd the covenant we kept.

6. The specter is no sailor, though it landed at the preserve
To witness my agony, barely seen.

7. It appeared as the crescent moon appears one night
Unless for the moan, its glimmer is not hid.

8. My friend, is there any halt to the trouble of love
For one who adores and madly loves?

9. Perhaps I'll glance at the flock and scare it
If I espy the gazelle among them, startled.

10. In sorrow, my eyes relish seeing him stand
When he walks on vacant sand, his trinkets jingling.

11. I won't sleep until dawn blinks her eye
Upon a gazelle, a fawn, his ankle-rings tinkling.

12. My shirt waves as wavily it waves,
My eyes wink the ruddier as the redder they wink.

13. When a brimming goblet of wine exhilarates me,
I imbibe the crushed juice and bare my teeth.

14. If my eyes miss a form in a dwelling,
I stretch out my hand to my heart and grasp it.

15. So whose eye would the eye complain to of sleeplessness?
Whose heart would the heart tell of its anguish?

16. The eye - what but darkness was it created for?
The heart - what but passion was it created for?

17. I stand still, fettered by love,
Are the tears of my cheeks ever freed of their bonds?

18. I got him from the hands of hastening shepherds
And oh, how he shot me, coming closer!

19. By him I traveled at night, while stars shone dim
In the evening, when the caravan's lanterns glittered.

20. The sweetest love is what passes by a lover
Just as chaste love passes him by, the sweetest.

21. In these times, who do I have for a boon friend
With a hearty, open laugh?

22. He is the brilliant full moon - if he appeared
In night's darkness, he'd light up the gloom!

23. I see his face's beauty resembles the perfect moon
While the perfect moon resembles naught his beauty.

24. I see the merit, grace, glory, and height
When I count them word for word - such is their meaning!

25. One who complains to other than his friend
Would be like one complaining to gloating enemies.

26. So do not complain to one you don't love,
Even if he pours out his woes to you.