1. Where are you headed away from your protector?
I greatly fear even the slightest separation.

2. My love, a traveler, so prolonged
Was the time we spent together, yet so brief.

3. We did not count, without the goodness of companionship
Days of bliss and months of joy.

4. Can a necklace be severed like this
And its pearls scattered, strewn about?

5. Spare me, O beauty of my life,
Can we go against what is destined?

6. No misfortune has come to veil my eyes
From their comfort and their cheer.

7. Except for this, which called me to respond
And transcend dispute, O Prince!

8. Do you see that separator of spirit
And body, intending harm?

9. That unjust tyrant who kills
Without discrimination or mercy?

10. The separator of two twins by force when
They were tranquil, suckling comfort!

11. Do not blame me, for many a coward
When put to the test turns excuse-maker.

12. I go to defend my country,
Repelling the hostile invader.

13. It is hard when called to prefer
Staying put and the soft feather bed.

14. Encourage me to leave my bliss
And make my grieving heart patient.

15. Speak to your faithful husband and say:
“I love my lion, bold and valiant.”

16. If I return, every hardship will be
Repaid a thousandfold in blessings.

17. And if I do not return to tread the path
Of one who did not live in vain or die elderly.

18. My love, my master, my prince,
My companion, my sundered heart,

19. My friend, my father, my brother,
My child, my clove, so fragrant.

20. An orphaned nation is far worse to bear
Than a bereaved mother’s injury and terrible harm.

21. Go, I entrust my affair to the Guardian
Go, and Him alone I ask for success.

22. Go, and strive, and spill without sin
The blood of the aggressor, wantonly shed.

23. Just beware of death and forget not
A bride who awaits you, jealous and zealous.

24. Take my heart and make it your shield to
Ward off harm that comes rushing headlong.

25. And if the arrows fail to turn away from you
Let it, before you are struck, be a small offering.