1. I thought time with my son
Would help and delight me

2. Or that days would invigorate him
From illnesses and tribulations

3. And that death would give him respite
And be gentle with me and have mercy on me

4. But time betrayed me
And days refused to comfort me

5. And my hope in my dream was shattered
In my son and in my time

6. I will cry as much as I can
For my son who used to be intimate with me

7. And I was with him and I was for him
An example of the soul in the body

8. So he became a neighbor of eternity
Captive of the grave and shroud

9. And my heart was for him
A place other than this dwelling

10. And time with its vengeance
Separated us seeking me

11. So how much does my time oppose me
And disgrace me and make me childless

12. Oh my woe, oh my war
Oh my worry, oh my grief

13. It moves on, then leaves me behind
And the fire of longing disturbs me

14. Since he left early and parted from me
I have not enjoyed life

15. I cannot forget his fingers
And his palms that shook my hand

16. And he intended for me with his death
And came close to me to bid me farewell

17. And the doves mourned him
Like the singing of the nightingale for the branch

18. Whenever I imagine an image of him
That comes to me

19. I tilt and do not awake to one
Who talks to me and deters me

20. I feel embers scorching my heart
Burning it and delighting my eye

21. If only my mouth when it smiled
At him, my teeth would leave me

22. If only when my eyes saw
A child, they would not gaze at me

23. And tears would flow down my cheek
For I did not see him and he did not see me

24. And if only when my ear understood
A conversation, it would not accompany me

25. And if only death hastened me
And if only time destroyed me

26. And I did not see him in the highlands
Traveling away from the homeland

27. My worries have severed my body
And my molars and melted me

28. To Ishmael my longing transcends
The passage of time

29. And Ishmael preoccupies me
From pleasures occupying me

30. And I will not distract myself from Ishmael
Until death splits me

31. I will cry for him and lament him
With abundant anguish

32. As Al-Qamariya grieved
In Baghdad for the branch

33. And after him I will remain forever
Sorrowful throughout the days and time