1. Do you fear the anguish of separation, or do you not fear?
Though the careful one takes heed, he may reflect.

2. You will not be blamed if you fear destiny,
And recklessness does not benefit when fate is sealed.

3. I remembered when our bond was new,
Though remembering may sicken even the healthy.

4. My memory of her captivated me when I let it roam;
She has a tempting glance, so the eye is bewitched.

5. It was as if when my heart turned to her,
My love-crazed mind became confused.

6. When I try to make my eyes wake from crying,
My tears flow down unbidden.

7. Indeed, a time led me to her who
Harmed my soul when her people shunned me.

8. If only God would not distant her abode from me,
I would still encounter her wherever I went and asked.

9. On the day they left hatefully, she was my destruction.
Upon her was a perfumed cloak with pearls and ambergris.

10. I said, “O people! My heart is enthralled with you,
Yearning, complaining, with my wounds exposed.”

11. “Indeed, every affection among people before us decays,
But my love will not wear out or change.”

12. They said, “By my life! We've known you for a time,
While you are a man who speaks beyond his worth.”

13. And she said to her camel-drivers when they turned
Away from me for a bit, “He makes fun of me.”

14. She said, “I fear his betrayal, and I know
He is ungrateful too.”

15. I said, “O you who are my soul and my purpose,
No, by God's house! I am true to you.”

16. “My steadfast heart knows well that if
I do not meet with you, I will be destroyed.”

17. “My thanks are that I do not seek privacy with you.
How could I when you have tormented my heart so cruelly?”

18. “By God, I was wrong. It was foolish of me.
Why was I shunned though I did no wrong?”

19. “My struggle against ingratitude and betrayal
Has kept me from disbelief, if my soul will just be patient.”

20. She said, “We have given our love to you,
So you will meet good fortune and be brought together.”

21. I said, “If you are one for affection,
Then the tryst between you and I is inevitable.”

22. She said, “We have done so, as Banan and Mihjar
Have told us when they spoke.”

23. So my heart was comforted, though it supposes
It will perish before the promised time or weaken.