1. Peace be upon the one who does not answer my greeting,
A longing peace, afflicted by parting.

2. A peace like the breeze's breaths in the magic of dawn,
That blew through gardens and vast expanses.

3. A permanent peace with a traveling meaning,
That changed its gazelles to wolves.

4. Peace be upon my family and home and neighbors,
And my companions and heart and friends and youth,

5. And the homes of my loved ones and the shade of my comrades,
And the meadows of my peers and the sum of my students—

6. Afflicted am I by the ample arrow of parting from them;
Swiftly did my heart become evil from it.

7. I left the Nile’s drink sweet and cold,
So how much deceit came to me after it like a mirage!

8. And I left what I had no strength to leave,
So the porch knew not the striking of my sandal.

9. How much did I traverse ‘Isa and connect with Sira
On its dangerous paths in the open desert!

10. The ignorant called ruins landmarks;
Yes, my sickness and torment were with purpose.

11. And after how many obstacles
My bliss in my homelands changed to endless punishment!

12. My beloved said, “There is comfort in tears—
To restrain the eye’s tears is not right.”

13. I said, “I lose my eye if I do not find in it
Eyelids to answer the tears.”

14. When the devils of labyrinths come upon me,
My eyes have the repelling of meteors.

15. My two loves, if our meeting does not return to us,
Do you have it in you to listen to the echo of my address?

16. My heart inclined to you while believing in God,
So wonder at a believer who inclines to you!

17. I made peace between wakefulness and sleep and tears,
A building that signals ruin.

18. An eagle nested gray hairs upon my temples
And flew away with my youth like a crow.

19. I refused the stars of Suhayl though they shine,
That they may take your place in greeting me.

20. I multiply my five by six of longing
For a beloved who was not mine to claim.

21. I testify to remembering their land’s meadow,
So my weeping spills upon it like clouds.

22. I show my enemies an excess of endurance,
While I conceal that sickness is in me.

23. Reunion called me, and I did not answer,
Now here I call without response.

24. My solace was the start of my torment,
And the end of my life was the start of my loss.