1. Many a night I passed weeping,
Many a tear I shed on the ground,

2. Many a garment I tore with tears -
Only to replace it with other clothes.

3. My torn garments had barely dried
Before my eyes again began weeping.

4. Many who were once at peace with me
Now reproach and contend with me.

5. Only those struck by separation know
What it's like to lose one's loved ones.

6. O Sulayman! May God keep you
And your fickle heart far from me.

7. Tell him, though he knows my state,
He has not replaced estrangement with intimacy.

8. Love itself severs intimate ties
And letter-bearers start prying.

9. So when your letter reaches them
It is sealed by peers given to gossip.