1. My friend, your face is dear to me
Yet you hide behind a veil

2. Why do you shun me so?
A friend who fails to keep in touch

3. Long has it been since I heard from you
No longer do messenger pigeons bring your scrolls

4. Have you forgotten me, O son of Ibrahim?
Should I be angry or make excuses for your neglect?

5. One such as you would not sell a friend for profit
Nor would one like me be sold

6. We cannot meet face to face
Our gathering would make letters obsolete

7. But pens convey our thoughts over distances
When circumstances keep our persons apart

8. Our blessing in this separation
Is freedom from the pain of saying farewell

9. What argument can you make to me?
The manifest truth brooks no denial

10. I know you tire of our friendship
My nature warns me of this

11. My friend, my affection finds refuge with you
And knows no bounds

12. So let me speak plainly
Not mere hearsay

13. If you’ve forgotten our longtime bond
I’ll overlook your aloofness

14. I’ll indulge you if you’ve grown disdainful
For every tie, once severed, leaves loss

15. I am not given to fickleness
Or to nursing secret grudges

16. Instead, my fondness for you grows ever deeper
And is exalted by constancy

17. I’ve blended it with memories
Of one who forgot affection and its fruits