1. If only the breeze, when bearing upon its shoulder
A yearning that books and messages fall short of,

2. Would convey my affectionate greetings to the king
From whose palms flow sustenance and fate.

3. My chest is constricted and burdened
For those arriving at his gates in droves.

4. I have found substitutes for all things absent
Yet have no substitute or replacement for them.

5. How many a night my love for him burned
While my thoughts were occupied with none but him.

6. When I recall my days in his presence,
The easy and the arduous narrow for me.

7. We dwelled in the courtyard of al-Malik al-‘Adil
And stole kisses amid its far reaches.

8. His gifts and awe made us imagine
His presence, so dread and hope were renewed.

9. Long has the lion of the thicket departed
And though dread remains in the thicket, it too shall pass.