1. God tended a bird on a lofty branch
Who told me true news plainly;

2. That the loved ones had mounted their she-camels at dawn, then departed.
So I set forth, while in my heart for their sake

3. Raged a blazing fire.
I race them through the dark night,

4. Calling to them, then following their tracks.
I have no guide to their traces

5. Save a sweet breeze of their love.
He lifted aside the tent-flap and lit up the dark,

6. So the riders set forth in the moonlight.
I sent my tears ahead of the riders,

7. And they asked, “When did this river flow?”
And they were unable to cross it.

8. So I said, “My tears flowed as pearls.”
As if the lightning flashes for the thunder’s roar,

9. And the clouds travel toward the rain,
And the hearts quiver for the lightning flashes of the campsites,

10. And tears pour for the caravan that departed.
O you who liken the bending branches

11. To the soft, moist, tender twigs!
If the matter were reversed, as you have done,

12. Your view would be sound.
For the bending of boughs is like the bending of twigs,

13. And the roses of gardens like the roses of lowlands.