1. Return the caravan so I can see you in its dreams,
If your promise does not fulfill its purpose,

2. Or send my heart back to me, for it
Followed your love, so it led him by his reins.

3. He once disappointed me for an hour’s appointment
From his day, so he traveled a year’s journey.

4. I do not know if his resolve remained steadfast to him
Or if he still wanders confused and bewildered.

5. My pact with him is hard to lead, so why doesn’t he
Extend a hand of peace after his passion?

6. The sorceress of eyes enchanted him with a glance,
Making her his beloved’s excuse.

7. O does he return to his senses after
The girl of the tribe stole the loyalty of his allies?

8. By God, if my hands could grasp his bridle
I would tie the stallion’s reins to his servants.

9. O you who blame the lover in his confusion,
Wait, do not blame him.

10. You thought his torment was a joking matter,
So you began to rebuke him for his raving.

11. If you deny his lament, then look to
His breath, his tears, his illness.

12. Hardship has poured on him until he disappeared
From the visitors’ eyes, nothing left but his speech.

13. His tears spoke of his heart’s secret
And his innermost being blazed with the fire of passion.

14. Sometimes oblivion engulfs him and sometimes
He cries the cry of a child during weaning.

15. He yearns for the slopes of al-‘Aqiq, its ravines,
its meadows, its valleys, and its mountains,

16. A valley through which the breeze flowed gently
And wept over its branches like a dove.

17. The scent of vegetation is as though musk permeates the earth
With the passing fragrance wafting through its bushes.

18. Its bending palm trees and the blue pools of its creeks,
My friend, if you come to visit this tribe,

19. Then beware the sly eyes from their tents.
Ask about the radiant full moon, the pride of its light and height.

20. So if you are confused and cannot find a guide,
Then listen to the heart’s moan by its tent.

21. For in that valley a delicate gazelle
Tells the story of deadly charm from its burrows.

22. Her stature rivals the height of his carriage
And her glance relates the flash of his sword.

23. She is like him in charm or he is like her -
The impact of her glance or his arrows is the same.

24. The tribe quenched my tears’ thirst whenever life grew hard
With droplets from his bucket, sipping his cup.

25. As relief I herded the prime of youth still green
And quenched my heart with sips from his clouds.

26. So the breeze of my soul is from the ether of his air
And the constitution of my body from the mix of his dust.

27. My longing for him never ends and rarely
Does the heart’s groaning for his chanting cease.

28. O excellent is the era of youth! Excellent
Is an orchard where I gathered roses from his bushes!

29. An era where, when imagination drew its image
In the tablet of my mind, it appeared before me incomplete.

30. I remember him and know I still remain
Accountable for the sins from his misdeeds.

31. How good was his loyalty to me had it lasted!
But how can it last for me forever?

32. Time’s course is a lesson, if only we
Recite the record of betrayal from its sins.

33. My life - youth has traveled on and returned me
To old age which attached itself to my temples white as stripes.