1. Cry with yearning, with sorrow, O neighbor,
Help me with a glass and a cigarette,

2. O daughter of the neighbor, dawn has inflamed my heart,
And troubled my thoughts, and bitterness stung,

3. Bring me out from darkness into light,
It is a duty that a neighbor aids a neighbor,

4. O bride of dreams, for God's sake, bring me
Take this and let's undo this virginity,

5. Light that fire sometimes and drink from
The wine of the Tigris, bring it sometimes,

6. And let me between my cigarette and glass
Cry for youth and take revenge on it,

7. Ease the blame or close the door, stand
And be reassured, for the sheikh left his abode,

8. I don't fear for you from your wicked mother
For how much she welcomed this visit!

9. O daughter of the sheikh, O wish of the soul, O
Basil of the living, passion lit its fire,

10. Quench my anguish, for between my ribs
A throbbing heart whose echo no stones deter,

11. Put your mouth, my lady, on my mouth
And bring it ardently with fervor,

12. Give it to me on our cheeks, for dusk has
Lowered its curtains,

13. And melt all that rages in my chest
Of feelings whose rights were usurped, their effects,

14. O neighbor's daughter, O wish of the soul, don't
Worry if the slanderer stirred up his dust,

15. My heart melted, O mistress of beauty, take it
And examine its secrets,

16. My lady, by God, forgive me if I started
To complain to you of the chaos of governance,

17. Ask the Living One, may I not lose you, about a slave
Whose freedoms were stifled when they persecuted the free,

18. Ask Him about the poor man whom God has
And how he complained night after night of his loss,

19. The vipers in his horizon spew poison
And the hissing has muted its mockery,

20. How many angels became devils by morning
Accursed, since their thoughts were poisoned!

21. Where are his moons? My soul yearns
Time has hidden them and erased his moons,

22. Where are his cups? My fervid heart
How they laughed in their revelries!

23. Where are his singers, his boon companions
And maids - how they danced their dances!

24. Ask Him and tell the poet who complained
About it and record his protest,

25. And send up his complaints to God here
And publicize them - do not conceal his news,

26. My lady, may God have mercy on you, the abode has been determined,
The prisoner of sorrow, so free his shackles,

27. How can I sing when circumstances broke my lute
And calamity cut its strings?

28. The winds of deprivation blew over the land of my youth
And bid farewell to its flowers,

29. And autumn of life silenced the songbirds
When their yearning cried out to me,

30. The strings' echo is but the reverberation
Of my heart's tolling and the guitar's wailing,

31. And my poem is the remainder of a heart that anguish
Has squeezed, so it is its extract,

32. My lady, may God have mercy on you, the abode has been determined,
The prisoner of sorrow, so free his shackles,

33. How his soul pined for you though it was
His passion that brought it, not himself, the rebel!

34. His dark night is long, and the bitter vigil
Has turned his day into night,

35. So leave him until dawn, vanquished,
And when he awakes, cure his hangover,

36. We never gained, O fate, but it's enough
For us if I pitied that loss,