1. Oh if only the fresh days of youth would return anew
And time that has passed would come back, O Buthayna

2. So we could remain as we were, while you
Stay close, though now when you are affectionate it is trifling

3. Nothing makes me forget but the memory of our love
Though she drew near, she denied affection entirely

4. And not her memory, but for the eyes that see
I would have visited you, so forgive me, your ancestors ransom me

5. My darling, no sorrow remains hidden within me
And my tears bear witness to what grief I conceal in the morning

6. Indeed, by God, I see that many tears
Will flow when the house parts between us

7. When I say I have no illness, O killer of me
She says, "It is certain and will increase"

8. And if I say, "Give me back some of my reason that I may live by it"
She turns away and says, "That is far from you"

9. So neither am I turned back from what I came seeking
Nor does her love for what perishes, perish

10. May you be rewarded with safety, O Buthayna
When the beloved stays away, and he is praiseworthy

11. And I said to her, "Know between me and you
There is a covenant with God and vows"

12. Your love was beautiful and lasted long
For love is only beautiful and lasting

13. And the circumstances of union between her and I
Though she made it easy with affection, are difficult

14. I wasted my life waiting for her promise
And in her I wasted time, though it was new

15. If only the slanderers of people between her and I
Were given deadly poison to drink until they were sated

16. And if only they were, every dusk and dawn
Laden with shackles and chains in multitude

17. And loose women think when I come to them
That I want them, though between them lies a great distance

18. So I glance at them equally, yet inside
There is vast emptiness between them

19. Oh if only I knew! Did they spend a night
In Wadi al-Qura? Then I would be happy!

20. Did they descend upon a land whose winds
Stir its twisting ravines?

21. Did they find happiness from fate even once?
Has any fresh rope of purity remained?

22. For the separated may reunite after parting
And far off hopes may be attained

23. Did they curb a restive, muscular, impetuous mare
With a rupture that competes with arrowheads in speed?

24. On the back of a frightened horse whose balking
When it crosses the road seems stumbling

25. They captivated me with large, dark eyes amidst a litter
With a chest like an empty waterskin and prominent collarbone

26. Swaying as she swayed to her ancestors
Flaunting, the edges of her cloak fluttering

27. When I come to her one day
The one who rejects, spurns, and is rude appears

28. He prevents, ignores my passion, and accuses me
Of sins against her - he is truly stubborn

29. So I avoid her fearfully as if estranged
And he overlooks us once, so we return

30. Whoever is matched with the likes of her in life
Is rightly guided in the livelihood of life

31. Passion for her dies in me when I meet her
And lives when I leave her, so it returns

32. They say, "Struggle, O beautiful one, with a raid!"
But what struggle do I want other than them?

33. For every conversation between them there is cheerfulness
And every fallen one with them is a martyr

34. The best of my days and most pleasant living
Is when one stirs me while they are sitting

35. I remembered Layla, so my heart is firm
And forgot other than her, so the pilgrimage is far

36. I tied passion for her as an infant, so it never ceased
To this day, her love grows and increases

37. When misers are mentioned, I remember her
And when stinginess - I say she will be generous

38. When she thought, she said, "I have attained his love
And my stinginess did not harm me, so why would I be generous?"

39. If her conscience were revealed, a hidden love would be found beneath
For Buthayna, beautiful and lasting

40. Do you not know, O mother of farewell, that I
Laugh when you are remembered and you are aloof?

41. Did Buthayna meet a companion one night
Who was generous to us with his love, so we were generous?

42. Whoever competes with me in love of Buthayna
The bright star is a martyr to me