1. I long for the days to be few, though their abandonment of me, if I name it as my ally, is treacherous.
I see my life's toil would diminish, yet I see no beauty in my life like enriching myself.

2. I would have strived until the Tigris dried up and I said the mirage was flowing in its basin.
If the delay of the miserly deceived me, I was fooled by the imagination that flows lightly.

3. Is there in Abū Bakr the delivering of a message to the swift lord of Dakhma?
There is no seeking of distress from Abū l-Ṣaqr in words none but Abū l-Ṣaqr can remedy.

4. The seeker of attainment examined it: when they tasked the full moon, it was too much for the full moon.
In the palace and the new month we hope for something new from him to follow the newness of the palace and month.

5. They came to him in crowds like the sea, yet they thought nothing of the sea—it was added to the sea!
He ascended the paths of the barefoot, though he intended the dawn visitor to be guided to him.

6. ʿAmr ibn Shaybān, while you are my Shaybān, even if my mother is attributed [to another lineage] and your ʿAmr is my ʿAmr!
My palms complained of their swelling, though in truth it was to replace that complaint with gratitude.

7. When will you not block my solitude? My estrangement does not afflict you, nor does my poetry follow any course but its own.
Is an excuse for one infatuated hoped for from me, when my excuse falls short for you in anger?

8. You watched for the removal of my difficulty, yet my desire turned only toward your ease, my difficulty.
If our feet were on equal footing in wealth, I would deny my shame, or return to my proper place.