1. Is there anyone tried with an ordeal like mine,
Or is there none in the two worlds with my fortune?

2. Anan looked at me and saw me pale-faced,
"O Bakr! What is the matter that sorrow has overtaken you?"

3. I answered her: "O sister! None suffers
What I suffer, except the long-suffering Job."

4. I used to hear about passion and think it
A thing that gives its votaries sweet delight,

5. Till I was tried by the sweetness and the bitterness thereof:
Its sweetness dissolves the hearts of men;

6. And my tongue fails to describe its bitterness:
Strange is the bitterness of passion, O Anan!

7. Wretched am I because of its sweetness and its bitterness,
And I am the loving captive, sad, tearful, and lonely.

8. O pearl! Beauty has singled you out and given you
What it has granted to no other human face,

9. While all other faces resemble and copy each other, yours
In their midst is odd and strange.

10. The shining sun hides its light from us
Behind the veil, while your veiled face beams upon us.