1. Oh, would that I were a dove above the branches
To moan at dawn and daybreak

2. So I can see in the meadow one who confides
His secrets to me and I confide my secrets to him

3. Oh, would that I were a breeze among the zephyrs
To give glad tidings to the birds in spring

4. And roam the horizons of the sky after the earth
To see where my absent beloved hides

5. Oh, would that I were a butterfly among the roses
To quench my thirst from the chalices of flowers

6. Until when my thirst is quenched, I yearn for death
And plunge into the flames

7. Oh, would that I were a bird of dawn, free
Flying in the bare space

8. To chant the melodies drunk
With the wine of beauty before the emergence of light

9. Oh, would that I were a green hill among the pastures
Bright above the valleys

10. To be a pulpit for every singing bird
And my slopes a playground for gazelles

11. Oh, would that I were a stream amidst the gardens
Flowing between roses and basils

12. So birds may flutter above its water
Drunk, returning the sweetest tunes

13. Oh, would that I were a bird to swim in space
And wander joyfully with the birds

14. Or a nightingale to delight ears with tender
Songs from the trees’ tops

15. Oh, would that I were a plectrum for the lute
To strum its strings

16. To let it pour the love complaint so perhaps
It may mourn the perplexed lover’s state

17. Oh, would that I were a moonlike beauty
To inspire in dawn and eve

18. Every beauty’s heart with pity for the misery of poets
Oh, would that I were a gazelle among the meadows

19. To perfume the air with the aromatic plants
Or a rose whose beauty spring has molded

20. To sprinkle me at dawn with dew
How visions appear to me as reality

21. And the dreamer deems me fallen prey
I awake confused and cry out “Who am I?”

22. A madman in the ruins responds
Oh love, before you my soul complains

23. Will you not unveil the mysteries?
Oh love, dreams of passion are beautiful

24. Take pity, for they are short-lived