1. O you whose beautiful face I saw
From the cheek of a maiden I'd ransom

2. She glanced at me coquettishly
Playing with youth though I've outgrown it

3. And you say you've become aloof
You used to grieve me, worries I've hidden

4. Sometimes I want your company
But when passion stirs my heart I deny it

5. And I see you with awe
Though your sin I'd easily permit

6. Then you apologized for ignoring me
I was neither angry nor content with it

7. O Salma, blessings on you
Defiant, your anger I've sought to avoid

8. By God, Lord of Mohammed
I have not betrayed, nor intended it

9. I've held back from you, though sometimes
Hardships arose, which I did not seek

10. The Caliph desires it
And when he insists on something, I obey

11. And an effeminate man of easy virtue
Wept for me, though I did not weep for him

12. And drunkenness called me
To frivolity, but I did not answer

13. Indeed I have taken from sobriety
What is in my conscience, and I have twisted it

14. And the house of my beloved tempts me
When I go in the morning, where is her house?

15. The Caliph stands between us
So I am patient with him and do not defy him

16. And the King has forbidden me
From women, and I have not disobeyed him

17. No, I have kept my word and not broken
A promise or vow that I have made

18. And I refrain from wrongdoing
And if passion stirs, I buy it off

19. I am loyal to a friend when he is near
And when he is far from me, I watch over him

20. And I incline toward the intimacy of the beloved
Out of shyness, not lust that I have sought

21. Innocence prevailed over innocence
It was not a branch that I have chopped down

22. So the matter is not neglect on my part
If I feared my companion, I would beware