1. O you with burdens from events, is there any relief
For the fearful seeking refuge, or any unraveling?

2. They pass by morning then race away, but do not care for
A female, nor do they fear a male.

3. Alas for the ignorant epoch! Does it not
Distinguish between the righteous and the wicked?

4. Does it not pardon the crimes of one who
Repented of his past and awaits forgiveness?

5. It spends its days stumbling
And breaking its vows habitually.

6. The swords of the warriors are all unsheathed
The archers’ arrows are all poised.

7. Their swords kill us
Their hidden arrows in their quivers wound us.

8. It is as if his excess fills him with awe
And eager care burns him up.

9. How many were slain by his whims in folly
How much blood stains his garments messily!

10. If only a ransom would satisfy his tyranny!
If only something would heal those gaping wounds!

11. O you with a kingdom and power,
Who gathers evil and gathers power,

12. Clothed in enmity, filled with blame,
Clothed in faults, filled with disgrace,

13. His caprice has left me without a joyous companion
To awaken my lifeless vigor and delight.

14. I fashioned consent with passion—but was not faulted
By anyone who denounced it or was uncouth.

15. Harsh to give but not empty
Of manners that disguise consent as ease.

16. It gladdens youth with playfulness
Moving between coyness and familiarity.

17. Its days are never in sacred months forbidden
Whether in early spring or late spring.

18. Surpassing those recorded in scripture
With precedent in eloquence, not trailing behind.

19. And alas for that singing with tones
Able to captivate all hearts!

20. It fills the soul of its listener,
Its heat is kindled from embers.

21. It is a mold for every passion
And all are predestined to their fate.

22. There is no good in other than it, and what hopes
Can one have who drinks poison instead of nectar?

23. We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.
Corruption has spread, an evil way of life.

24. The hearts of the gatherings were robbed—
Nay, the hearts of all mankind up to the horizons.

25. So there is a groan in the lungs
And tears pouring down the cheeks.

26. She appeared and left no peer.
Her delicate branch was not broken.

27. She went her way in her solitude
And her person returned not to assemblies.

28. She challenged her peers head-on
Not from behind veils and walls.

29. She did not adorn herself with musical instruments
Nor cast her face into veils.

30. She confronted eyes directly, forever virtuous and righteous,
Amazing the ears and eyes.

31. She killed worries—the most evil killing—
With no aid but her own.

32. She did not lend her support to the depressed
Against woes, so seek her aid!

33. She was not without a beautiful and tempting sight
Or modesty befitting a hidden pearl.

34. She put herself forth, neither indecent
Nor withdrawn out of shame or arrogance.

35. How the days roam madly!
Snatching away any beauty or pride.

36. It strips a perfect garment that was its adornment
Leaving it bare of splendor.

37. The fate took away the moon of song from the earth
So which hearts did it not wound?

38. Her grave contained in beauty
A goodly sight and purified essence.

39. Of the dwellers' graves, it became
The dwelling of the most noble and highest rank.

40. Those who perfume every plot of land, however foul,
And befriend it in times of loneliness.

41. My burning breast, alas for three things dug
In the soil and buried!

42. The water of my youth and the boon blended
With the water of that modesty and reserve.

43. If the grave knew who it received
We would not have dug a grave unprepared.

44. Or her father would have guarded her then
From his turf a precious pearl.

45. The dust that contained her is nobler
Than tombs of youths in their prime.

46. I swear by her coyness in her glances
And the magic of her charm and shyness,

47. If cattle were slaughtered around her grave
Instead of people in the burial place,

48. It would be adorned with pearls
And their shapes would be like perfume.

49. The wars would commit suicide in its courtyard
And the hunts of kings would despair.

50. Then I would water its soil with blood
To quench the burning ember in my heart.

51. Take your own life, O soul, in sadness!
For this is the time of suicide.

52. It is not proper that her entrails melted
While mine remain unmelted and unripened.

53. The days will not deny, after destroying her,
That it destroys the glorious and mighty.

54. It bent the sun of day so the stars of night grew dark,
Each one wrapped in gloom.

55. O garden, alas for flowers in you
And fruits more than blossoms!

56. O garden, my longing for your beauty
And kindness—both are lost!

57. O garden, my heart became confused with madness,
O delight of hearing and sight!

58. O garden, none can compensate me
For you, neither gardens nor people.

59. O garden, we watered you with our tears
Then you sent down a rain of hail.

60. Nay, befitting water for you is the purest
Drink of Homs or grape juice.

61. Nay, from the nectar of heavens mixed
With pure musk, smooth and unsullied.

62. Nay, from the nectar of hearts blended
With affection and friendship’s sincerity, not bitterness.

63. O garden, your name was not borrowed, O garden,
For our own pleasure, nor was it lent.

64. When amusement was little, we found you
A source of joy.

65. I see no amusement after you
Except derision and mockery.

66. To someone tone-deaf or sightless, what do
A song or image matter?

67. You were accompanied by two eyes
Passionately doting with love-sickness.

68. You were their right hand so fate cheated you.
Does it choose other than the best?

69. O most beautiful of creations, captivating
And most perfect of people in maturity!

70. As if molded by the Shaper from light
In his exemplary nature.

71. Nay, from the radiance of intellects when they see
The unseen with the eye of wisdom and moral lesson.

72. Do not suppose, after you all, I am
Satisfied with the rising or setting sun or moon!

73. Do not suppose, after you all, I am consoled
By the cooing of doves in the trees!

74. Do not suppose, after you all, I found rest
In the morning breeze at dawn!

75. Do not suppose, after you all, my eye roamed freely
In theatres of vision!

76. Its watcher is preoccupied with wakefulness and tears
So how can it sleep amidst deadly serpents and venom?

77. I was well-off with you as water and pasture
But am now destitute and deprived.

78. The delights of that time consoled me
For what was lacking.

79. Its nights were sheer magic
And its days like innocent maidens.

80. We kindled it with the prime of pleasures
Without violating the limits of propriety.

81. We did not fully enjoy its paradise
Though we obtained its blossoms.

82. How we listened to the humming of a drunk
Garmented one, but did not disrobe one clothed!

83. How we drank pure wine from kisses
Though it was tasted in secret!

84. A mouth with pearls benefits not
Nor bees with cloud-water in hollows.

85. Its singing complains of its heat
And its sprig complains of leanness.

86. You were to us a fascinating trial
Without fame or renown.

87. Every amusement like your company
Has defects while others have faults.

88. I took you all willingly as trusted brothers
And did not leave willingly or by force.

89. It is as if she never looked upon me
One day with the most wondrous eyes.

90. In her hand a lute, promising favor
Giving tidings like a truthful report.

91. As if when she walked, reminding me of her singing
With the gait of swaying branches.

92. And when she bid farewell, reminding me
To bid the rituals farewell in life.

93. It is as if I never saw your smiling cheek
That your Creator clothed in beauty and you disheveled.

94. You would be excusable if you acted proudly
As pure musk is not blamed for its pungency.

95. It is as if I never enjoyed a comfortable life with you
Or anything novel.

96. I was content to see a phantom of Kura
Walking unveiled, and to hear an echo.

97. A contentment like discontent, and if I could have
I would have changed and refused the others.

98. If the celestial spheres revolved according to my will regarding you
I would have summoned a victorious army.

99. But the spheres that none can contend with
Have invincible power and glory.

100. If the world acted according to me, it would be
Threatened by calamities like no other!

101. But it is the string of an Almighty King
Who has power over those seeking glory.

102. Oh how my soul yearns for leaving you behind!
A yearning that flies off like embers.

103. It is no sin that called for anger
Rather, it is our fortune that called for separation.

104. Whether I say it was loss when I willed
Or gain in profitable trade

105. Her union after separation profits me
With sweetness of intense intimacy.

106. Had I not been consoled a while by that
My heart would have shattered completely.

107. Fate did not violate the sanctity of the playful
Before you, in desert or settlement.

108. I cry for you with tears, blood, nay wakefulness,
Nay with grey hair.

109. Nay with gaunt bones, scorning
That though it is not scorned.

110. Nay avoiding healing! Nay intending
What is feared of harm!

111. I will seek to atone for all that
By crying over you like the scattering of pearls.

112. Nay if only I knew, having lived and put first
The self's apology, how and why and when

113. I endured while you built—was my heart made of stone?
Save that I be dead, so I vanished.

114. Yet how many deaths lie in remembrance
Without any dangerous thought to change it!

115. I have elegized from you a youth enveloped
In honor, a secret, and radiant beauty.

116. No elegy suffices for the three
Save the King's prayer in the chapter.

117. Though tears flow boundless
And poetry is reckless and uninhibited,

118. I was gentle with the youth, so I bade him farewell
With gentleness of grief, not wringing.

119. Tears and poetry assisted willingly
Not coerced like one forced.

120. I complain to God, not anyone
That one so fair died while the soul lives.

121. Who can help me have patience now
When my patience is exhausted?

122. Nay, patience would betray
The sincere friend—what betrayal!

123. I do not ask Allah for beautiful patience
For without you, it is hideous.

124. My soul's sadness for you is generosity
While for others it is mean.

125. It consoles the heart that you are in
The gardens of Eden tomorrow and by the rivers.

126. The maidens will intercede for you
For you are one of them in charm and maidenhood.

127. Oh how my soul longs for you! How often
You were warned but feared no warning!

128. How many terrifying dreams made me panic for you
Due to omens from the speech of birds!

129. You showed me wisdom in bearing adversity
Against every fear on the horizon.

130. Since the morning of its morning I have been
Radiant while people are dazzled.

131. Had I not been distracted from my agony by you
I would have returned to amusement and frivolity.