1. The agate grew pale, and its dunes
Became desolate when its dwellers departed.

2. What was familiar became unrecognizable to the eye,
Though the heart did not fail to know it.

3. The turns of fate revolved around it
When its neighbors traveled away.

4. I glanced at the agate with a departing eye
With which it would bid farewell to its dwellings.

5. So I did not cease weeping for the two beloveds
Until my burning tears were quenched.

6. And I shed copious tears and restrained my grief,
But my tears did not overcome its fatigue.

7. And of the things that hurt me after our separation,
When absence kills an ardent lover,

8. Is a pigeon that laments, so the eyes weep,
And it sings, so the branches sway,

9. Because it conveys its passion in a foreign tongue,
So its melodies become Arabic.

10. My soul nearly fades from yearning
When its chanting musician sings.

11. At night, its eyelids flash lightning
Across my heart from its sleeplessness.

12. The desert sings it when the wolf howls,
Terrifying its darkness.

13. The wildcats go astray in it,
And none can guide them in their bewilderment.

14. When the winds blow into it,
Its devils crumble from the lightning.

15. Its stubborn rocks melt in it,
And it is hard for the winds to move them.

16. It raises its tall banners,
And its pinnacles touch the comets.

17. It nears the sky until it converses
Privately with the soaring eagle.

18. My eyes saw a flock in it,
Whose riders swooned from exhaustion.

19. I wondered at the birds in flight over them
Like frightened ostriches.

20. So I asked them, where is the rest of the company and what was its business?
They said: A crew set out at daybreak bearing their burdens.

21. Their riders penetrate the night,
And their horsemen are clad in armor.

22. They call out at dawn to their lions
Who snarl and roar at their fawns.

23. With them is the protected honor of maidens;
All who doubt it are deprived.

24. Their breath fragrances those near them,
And their lances are perfumed with musk.

25. Full are the jingling of their stirrups,
And thirsty the rhymes of their composer.

26. Their swords tremble when passions are aroused
If thoughts of death grow tranquil.

27. And I doubt the wiles of fate,
So destiny cannot deceive them.

28. And I suffer agony from remembering him
While my heart cannot forget him.

29. I lie awake at night, longing for him,
While my sorrows tear up my heart.

30. And the night of worries appears at dawn
And its fires burn in my chest.

31. How long will I attempt to hide my love
While my tears cannot conceal it?

32. If love overwhelms the heart of a youth,
Hiding it only reveals it.

33. And I have no stratagem for love,
For its authority wrongs my soul.

34. And all my limbs, especially my heart,
Rise against me.

35. And my supporters, like me, are ruled
By what love decreed for them.

36. If only my heart would heed advice,
For its disobedience ruined me!

37. The earth seems narrow because of my worries,
While my chest is their field.

38. Travel removed the intoxication of youth from me,
So bid farewell to my prime.

39. And when the beloved traveled, his scent remained
Diffusing on the distance between us.

40. And time deceives me while pretending
To believe it, then kills that belief.

41. An age whose heat never ends
Continues to kindle its embers against me.

42. It is filled with intoxication to its brim
But does not know to awake from drunkenness.

43. And I have an ambition that continues
To seek the glory of what is possible.

44. And a heart that leaves my body
When humiliation spares my body.

45. And a soul that spurns the humiliation of seeking help
Even if its betrayals have overwhelmed me.

46. Finery does not increase its beauty,
However pleasing its exterior may appear.

47. What is false will inevitably
Transform and erase its falsehood.

48. So do not lament, as long as you are above the ground,
Losing anything whose loss grieves you,

49. Except where is 'Aad, and where is its structure?
Where is Mudar, and where is Numan?

50. Indeed, where is Qarun, and where is all
That his treasuries contained? Where are his keepers?

51. And where is he who built the palace to reach
The sky with its pillars?

52. And where is Solomon's flying carpet
That would carry him and his entourage?

53. And where are Thamud and the giants?
Rather, where are Choesroe and his palace?

54. And where are al-Walid, and where is Yazid?
And where are the modes of song and their melodies?

55. And where are al-Rashid and his Isaac?
And where are al-Amin and his regrets?

56. They passed away, and we will pass away after them,
And existence and its times will pass away.

57. And we will be returned on the Day of Return,
When the Examiner tests our innermost secrets.

58. So man will not benefit from what he amassed,
But rather man will benefit from his good deeds.