1. My beloved, why does the darkness not recede?
Why does the light of dawn not become clear?

2. Has the radiant morning lost its way?
Or is time an endless night that does not fade?

3. The night has been so long for me, it is as if
It were two nights joined, so it does not budge.

4. It seems the darkness has increased, but not the gloom -
Rather, sorrow has prolonged the night, troublesome.

5. My tears certainly gushed forth in their flowing,
And my sleep, when others slept, slipped away.

6. The women of the tribe said, "Why don't you befriend
And why were you not intimate with the fairest of maids?"

7. So I said, "My love for Sa'diyya intercedes for me
When I desire another, it remains kindling in my heart."

8. So I said, "Did I commit a sin in coming to you
Or does timidity quiver inside me toward her?

9. Does my eye overflow with tears from estrangement?"
Oh long night, I do not recognize the morning

10. Nor is there comfort in it, so I may breathe easy.
Sa'diyya, you forgot our love after we

11. Idled with it an age, concealing and playing.
Lovers, beloveds, we drown in passion

12. Again and again independent, we swim.
It is as if our love is both punishment and pleasure -

13. Our garments tear off us and soak through.
Nights we track passion and it leads us

14. To lying in wait for eyes while dogs bark.
So it was easy for others than he to travel that path

15. And the enemies slept until we parted and they triumphed.