1. To the one whose feet trod the highest heavens
I send praise, greetings, and eulogy

2. My brother, advisor, and he who repels harm from himself
Seeking what pleased his Lord

3. My refuge when my ways fail me
My fortress when time assails me

4. A rain when I seek it, pouring bounty upon me
Sustaining me as long as I live

5. To him from distant passion comes a greeting
That endures through the nights with its melody

6. Stirred by sincere longing like a breeze
To behold the one I yearn for and adore

7. Though my message cannot reach you, I send it still
My eyes have not seen you for so long

8. I hoped a herald would come to you
But never found what I hoped for

9. I yearn to see my beloved but have not found
A way, after all I wished for

10. No patience remains for one not joined to his intimate
So when harm strikes he calls out

11. One who does not heed him will find affliction
Among people to be severe

12. My brother, how can I find solace and your abandonment kills me
How can I show patience when separation destroys me

13. My brother, the nights have betrayed us with their treachery
May Allah curse this spiteful age

14. To Allah I complain of the blows of fate
When it pierced my heart with the arrows of separation

15. And lodged in my breast the sharp spears
That blinded and ripped open my intestines

16. I have become, from the tyranny of time
Like one given poison by snake's fangs

17. And isolated me from the one whose name
My yearning tongue calls out instantly

18. Gently, for longing has touched his heart
And the painful separation melted him completely

19. And kindled in his core the embers of wrath
Parting him from the joy of life

20. And the deserted encampment has led him
When the ruins of his melody met his eyes

21. His passion holds me as long as I live
So I cannot diminish it, however long we are apart

22. And our separation has increased the passion and ardour in me
Since the departure of the one whose rulings pleased me

23. I made him dwell, by Allah, between my ribs
So how can I have patience with one dwelling in my chest?

24. Would that the nights had told me of his nearness
And made my life joyful with the light of his life

25. When my soul remembers him it fills with his life
And were it not for him, it would leave life, and were it not for him

26. Oh my grief, it erased them from my home
Of what use is the speech of the distant one to his ardent lover?

27. I ask every passing caravan about them
The question of a sick man, concerned for their wellbeing

28. One who asks the travellers about every absent one
Will be fortunate to receive good tidings of meaning to him

29. My ardent heart was constrained one night
When the bird of my dream circled around the meadows

30. As if time had made my arm sick
And none fell but its right side

31. And that is a dream disturbing the soul
If the interpreter proves his claim true

32. But it will seem mere fancy made up by my pleading
To the Firm Handle we cling to

33. When the era bites us with its molars
The destined victory will restrain it

34. No humiliation, by Allah, for those whose master is Him
No honour, by Allah, for those who oppose Him

35. O you who asked Allah to set your affairs right
May Allah heal you from the sickness in your limbs

36. Show kindness to the one whom time has abused
With a cloak to give life to the youth pining from separation

37. No wonder that when his name is mentioned
A shudder comes over me at his memory

38. And the ardent heart yearns for him
Far from sleep are the eyes that pine for him