1. Long has my weeping lingered in the abodes,
And long has my circling them and my distress continued.

2. It is as if I am a wild cow in the dwellings, hounded,
I see them before and behind me.

3. So when despair overcame me, I turned my she-camel
Away from the abode, and my grief took hold of me.

4. To a tavern where dogs do not bark at me
Nor disapprove my long stay.

5. And if the gray-haired lady has wished for my absence,
She did not forbid my misdeeds and my shame.

6. I did not aim at him until he came within
My right hand’s reach, grasping my shoes and socks.

7. And a cup like a lamp in the sky I drank,
After a kiss or tryst.

8. The days came after it as if
Drops of light were falling from the sky’s openings.

9. You see its light shining from outside the cup
Even if you cover it with a lid.

10. Blessed is He who manages affairs with His knowledge
And favored Harun over the caliphs.

11. We live well as long as we are clothed in piety
And as long as the Trustworthy One rules over our world.

12. A leader who fears God until it seems
He awaits seeing Him in the morning or evening.

13. I smell the musk of the two forearms as if
Perfume were rubbed on his sword along with the banner.