1. O harbinger of passion in the vale of Syria,
Call upon my name, and the doves will answer you,

2. Among those plains and hills,
For often have they echoed my chant,

3. And shared the madness born of my infatuation,
And many a time have I walked, sick with love,

4. To visit the dwellings of the lovely maidens,
Clad in a cloak of sadness woven by the hands of love

5. With threads of tears.
Whenever I catch a glimpse of lightning, I open my lips

6. To breathe her beautiful name amid those tents.
Passion turns fiction into fact,

7. And fools the wise with delusions.
My heart reflects fantasies,

8. That do not fade like dreams.
Whenever my imagination stirs,

9. It reminds me of bygone days,
That age has passed, but left behind

10. Conversations we used to share, as the wine circulates.
Whenever my mind withdraws the veil of fantasy,

11. The past appears before me.
O breeze of the morn, I implore you, convey

12. To the people of that camp the scent of my greeting,
And visit them on my behalf, tell them of

13. My abundant love for them and my lingering sickness.
I will be content if they remember me with affection

14. Or send a letter, if I cannot meet them face to face.
They have made passion the sanctuary of my heart,

15. And humbled my critics.
I miss them without meeting them,

16. Like the spuming waves of the verdant sea surge towards me.
The waves crash like stallions, leaping and frothing,

17. And you can see the ships rising and falling like mountains,
Their banners and flags fluttering.

18. Rising at times and dropping at others
Into the void between prairie and marsh.

19. They charge like wild beasts, but cannot be reined in.
Each swing sways the people on them

20. Bowing between standing and kneeling.
They do not awaken from the dizzying whirl,

21. With hands clutching and breath coming fast.
They cry for help, their hearts quaking,

22. Fearing death, their eyes swimming,
Praying fervently, praising

23. The Omnipotent, the All-Knowing.
That is an ocean followed by an expanse of land

24. Where the ghosts of the past wander like ostriches.
While my darkness is in Egypt, my heart

25. Languishes in Syria in the fetters of passion.
I fool myself with wishes, though my soul refuses,

26. And fooling oneself nourishes people.
So when will time allow me to meet

27. What I have missed of my hopes?
It is a friendship whose intimacy is like light

28. In the folds of a flowered cloak.
A true friend never violates a pact,

29. But few among people rein in blame.
Righteousness joined us before we met,

30. With the breeze of spirits, not of bodies.
Through affection we reached what was not attained

31. By a lifetime of kinship and family ties.
So even if we are not together on earth, we are joined

32. By the bond of passion and constancy of dwelling.
The communion of souls is a truer commitment

33. Than a meeting without permanence.
An insightful mind whose intuition perceives

34. The unseen through the thinnest veil.
And a poet whose compositions poured like

35. The breath of zephyrs after the rain.
His poetry shook me and awakened

36. An idea that had only existed in my dreams.
I named it "words after if" and it gushed forth

37. With little that did not quench thirst.
So accept from me what I could offer,

38. For much richness lies in less flamboyance.
Had I wanted to express my affection and longing,

39. Language would not have sufficed.
I love you instinctively, not as something

40. That permits repeal or contraction.
When love is without motive,

41. Its foundations are firmer than pillars.
So take my gratitude for your kindly affection,

42. I am honored by this medal.
I will proudly display it, while others

43. Boast of the jewels they are given.
May you always enjoy the comforts that grace

44. The topmost branch of your noble tree.