1. Departure was imminent, and my companions hurried me,
While my soul teetered on the verge of grief.

2. When I saw sorrow perched
In my heart and eyes awash with tears,

3. And those I loved were far away,
My people distraught and forlorn,

4. I cried, “Love has inspired in me
Murder though I’ve done no wrong!”

5. The memory of you brought sleeplessness to my eyes
Without sickness or distress.

6. Save for wishing I might win you -
So rouse yourself, servant, from anger!

7. Had you heard or witnessed
What monks read in their books,

8. You’d have found your love kills me outright
If the Deliverer of sorrows doesn’t intervene.

9. A sign from you, clear to see,
Would suffice me, from your love suffice me,

10. For I slip away when I recall you
From the gathering of reciters and drinkers,

11. Until people say among themselves:
“How smitten is the disheveled one with love!”

12. I went on recalling you and your nights
Until my ribs were sapped of repose.

13. And I learned that aloofness was your way -
In absence and estrangement even when near.

14. So I wavered, not knowing whether to stay
Estranged or join the caravan.

15. For if I depart, I will attain you,
And if I remain, my heart will pine.

16. You appeared to me, to kill me outright,
In anklets, bracelets, and cloak.

17. So I prayed to my Lord a prayer that joined
Lover’s desire and dreadful caution:

18. “Do not appear to me possessed!”
And my Lord answered a lover’s prayer.

19. I rave about you - as long as I live you are
My love, and my path aligns with yours!

20. And my white hair wept in wonder at me,
Grieving for it, though time is unruly.

21. Do not overly wonder at my white hair;
Wonders belong to my warring father!

22. Though we were approached by other singers,
To me they were like adversaries.

23. They hoped I’d notice their flaws
When pleased with them or vexed.

24. When I passed by her covert
Among the dwellings of Bedouin encampments,

25. She hastily said to her handmaidens:
“Where can we find the heart-pierced one?”

26. “To hear him, if he might hear us,
Would be dearer to my heart than life itself!”

27. They replied: “The lad is a flirt,
And I love whoever walks on the soil!”

28. “Do not hurry us to meet with him,
So our gathering might be on fertile ground,

29. And more than one of us attains him -
For hearing is less arduous than discourse!”