1. Buthaina turned me away when for an hour I tried,
And gave up hope after promise and expectation.

2. She believed in lies told by a slanderer,
A mischief-maker, and I am no obedient servant to mischief-makers.

3. If you find me innocent, without crime or sin,
And still reject me unjustly - what rejection!

4. God may see that I loved you all
With a love that established itself in my ribs.

5. Had it not been for the one I hope for and expect
For certain she would have announced my death to her.

6. O generous Buthaina, suffice a humble lover,
And heal with that my illnesses and pains.

7. A little from you benefits me;
Anything else, however plentiful, is of no use.

8. I have determined to love none but you
Until I am hidden beneath the earth in a grave.

9. Long was I far from you, an exile,
Until one of you called me for a time.

10. So my heart was aroused to sorrow that squeezes it,
And I do not close my eyes except in wakefulness.

11. And do not divulge my secret if you discover it,
For I am truly not one to squander your secrets.

12. I protect your secret in my heart and guard it
When the breast of the narrow-spirited one is constricted.

13. Then know that what you entrusted me as a confidence
Will remain morning and evening with the vigilant guardian.