1. Is longing anything but sorrow that brought regret?
So my body is emaciated and I am sallow.

2. Or yearning, except to see the one you love
Nearby, though reaching him is not hoped for.

3. So why, if you gave him a greeting one day,
Is it anything but a flashing lightning bolt as messenger?

4. A passion, though below it, from a jealous lover
Who rages, so I am sated by complaining.

5. I remembered you, O gazelle of Sirama, and because of gloom
Upon me are coverings, and tears pouring down.

6. I see you in my heart, and the obstacles between us,
And at night, since the palms bent with you are long.

7. As if you and the living who turned away
Are a flock that descended into my heart.

8. I watch the stars of night while they rise
Until dawn shines and they set.

9. They incline confusedly toward the horizon as if
Their glances were touched by weariness.

10. And were it not for you, sleep would not disturb my eyelid,
Nor would blame probe my hearing.

11. Do you remember days gone by, with resentment
Whose showers were poured by evening conversations?

12. When life was full of youth and in its water
And during the joys of fate you were heedless of me.

13. And we were in a meadow untouched by afflictions
Where no robes were dragged away by the wind.

14. You hurried a fragrant 'ud from Basham adorned
With you, and the morning had not shone fully.

15. Yet if it did not leaf out, having tasted its flavor,
Is it any wonder that wilting overcame it?

16. I busied my poetry with composition until
Its ideas wandered between my pulsating hearts.

17. A journey is sung by it, and maidens dance,
And faint, scattered traces weep.

18. I used to say poetry artificially,
But my love for you taught me how to speak.