1. He watered the sand dunes, then the dwellings, then the winding paths
Clouds smile down, dripping with blessings

2. And the moaning clouds bestowed upon it a gift
Passing by, pouring down upon its people

3. Never deserting its people over the ages
Nor did the course of fate bypass it

4. How many songs glorify it
Whose glances would shame the radiance of lightning

5. He has my devotion though desire protested
My affection is true yet receives little affection in return

6. The slender, gently swaying branch
Mocks the pliant bough when it stirs

7. The pliant bough can nearly tell of its softness
And its suppleness says gently, no more!

8. It shaded me from its rattling and its branches
Turning slowly between dawn and dusk

9. The critic wounds me though it consoles me
And I have a heart that does not forget its love

10. O critic, by God if you but saw it
You would receive from it what I have received

11. How long will I spend my days loving it
Suspended between despair and hope?

12. And how often has the promise of union enticed me
Only, when I sought to claim it, for the promise to be broken

13. And time prevented the attainment of union
As though envying me the meeting

14. Why should I and the cruel days quarrel? They have not ceased
To be a sword wielded against me by enemies

15. How long shall I close my eyes to harm from it
And bear what saps my strength?

16. And so does every noble steed
Find itself returned by fate to the stables

17. Long have I consoled myself with wishes
But what can ‘perhaps’ and ‘if only’ avail?

18. I shall make patience my nature, for he who is patient
Attains all he desires through his patience

19. For many a care has passed and cleared up
And many ease has come after hardship

20. How much relief has come after severity!
God transformed one condition into another

21. But whoever performs pilgrimage, seeks union, and prays
And follows the beloved, chosen religion

22. If I were not beholden to an unjust religion
And did not have obligations to people

23. I would spurn this world for the next
And be content with little, desiring no more

24. I would make chastity the rule for my soul saying
For the life to come, be as the past has been

25. And would not complain of the sword of my fate if it struck
Nor say to time, how long will this go on?

26. But duties ensnare me; poverty prevents me
From fulfilling them, though duty must be discharged

27. And heavy debt has wasted my body
And left my eyes susceptible to drowsiness

28. Perhaps, God will soon show relief
And remove the care that afflicts me

29. Then blessings and peace whenever light appears
And darkness disappears and fades away

30. Upon the chosen Prophet, the noblest of those
Sent by the Lord of the Highest Heaven

31. And his kinsman the oft-visiting one whom
The All-Merciful revealed to the angels in heaven

32. And his family, lords of piety, the shelter for people of earth
The guiding lights, the ships of salvation