1. The book arrived, clearly written
About a beloved I loved but never saw

2. It came with roses that had a delightful fragrance
Whose love pained me and set me aflame

3. So I broke its seal, and tears had often
Flowed before it, never to dry

4. And I kissed its pages, so its cover shone
And I sipped a scented cup from its pure water

5. I dedicate to yearning a youth enamored
Whose longing brought a scent like ambergris

6. Its lines were like the tresses of a gazelle
That shone from the braids of Caesar

7. Its pages were like the cheek of a beauty
Whose coquetry adorned it with vexation

8. Or as if its letters were pillows for eyes
That give exquisite and distilled perfume

9. The necklaces of its meanings left its prose
Like the smile of a beloved that gleamed pearls

10. I cultivated over its clouds a cloud of eloquence
That if heard by Al-Kindi, would make him return

11. And likewise Ibn Sa'ida al-Ayyadi if he saw it
Would come back from it ashamed and concealing

12. The gentle breeze was delicate in its meaning
As Al-Fawad witnessed to its merit when he read it

13. O Hasan, lightning from his cheek appeared
About Nasr Fathallah's victory shining news

14. Nasrallah's youth arose with zeal
And my heart refused to remember another

15. A branch of Fathallah most fertile
In the garden of literature grew and bore fruit

16. And so the name of my heart when it resembled his heart
The devotion of love built when it was drafted

17. So to you is ascribed virtue, O you whose love
Appeared to me and will never see or look at me

18. Come close to the abode where you were
And Nasrallah happily walked in it

19. Alas for it when your dwellings were vacated
Luxuriously, and alas how abundant your remoteness

20. If only there was no distance or intention
If only there was no crossing the shrine or treading

21. Alas for the heat of remoteness, and how often
Remoteness has wronged the loved ones and fabricated

22. Take them, for the son of honor has brought
Missives of longing that deliver lines

23. Informing you of my passionate love
Beyond the limit of what minds can grasp