1. Greetings Abu Bakr, peace and mercy upon you
A sincere greeting from a brother devoted to you

2. By my life, I know not of the fracture of its glass
The nights draw near to you as they pass

3. A companion who bid me farewell was certainly revealed
Innocent of affection's ways and devoid of any flaw

4. I say to myself when intentions carried you afar
Is your brother a young bird separated from your wing or plucked

5. Thus there remained a propensity to fly to you
The wings of yearning taking flight from the nest

6. To what end, Abu Bakr, do we pine with famished souls
Thirsty for the days of fresh figs or chickpeas

7. As though you’d never seen that land, as if
It were brides tended by the Pleiades, no less

8. Nor did that canopy hover over us
Soiling the skirt of shade in the nook of the headrest

9. And we had affairs therein
Heeding whimsical desire, never to transgress

10. Our nights full of comfort and wholesome living
Your shade not transferred from that place

11. And I would not recall it save to heal
A connection which my soul pursues to reassess

12. I wish, Abu Bakr, that I was knowledgeable
And the universe a gown not defined by stitches

13. Will the unknown one day open its door to me
That I may look through and see you in Homs

14. With the blue brass swords and as they appeared
Frolicking in a cup stirred by the dance

15. What fair-skinned wine loosened Sirwar’s bracelet
Like pearls in a chalice sold cheap

16. More beautiful than it in the eyes when glimpsed
Especially as the grazing sun edges the disk

17. A gulf like the dawn’s thread hovering over it
The trains of ornamented nights flow