1. A heart confused amidst the censures,
An eye shedding tears for loved ones lost,

2. How can I hide the tears that fall unbidden
When spies draw near or friends bid their farewells?

3. O Fate, have mercy! My very soul
Is torn by grief and sorrow untold.

4. Not every day my heart is shaken so,
Nor does my liver break from every woe.

5. Will kin reunite or travelers find rest,
While you take joy in parting those close-pressed?

6. When radiant faces shone for last goodbyes
Like suns arising, tears welled in my eyes.

7. We stood in a valley of bushes and brambles,
Melting with grief, for patience has no place.

8. None remains but a lover bidding adieu,
Disconsolate, with tears of farewell trailing.

9. Eyes once bright with tears now dimmed
Secrets unlocked as dams within are breached.

10. Would that the beauties of Malik's line remained
Established in Nejd, though sorrowed and aggrieved,

11. Why were they, though loathing departure, compelled
To where the night-fires have no place to graze?

12. This is a summering place with no shortages,
A refuge for those desiring the desert’s breadth,

13. But the rival drew near, so I turned away
When the sister of Bani Wirqa came calling.

14. The betrayer respects no enduring affection,
Sweet fidelity leads him on though he feigns rejection.

15. Had another asked, I'd have turned her back,
For my love is only for the Maliki tribe entire.