1. I say to Nidā as he grieves from longing,
"Your affection has made my words tender, oh Nidā!"

2. Come let me share with you my concerns so you may know,
That you are what my troubled heart complains of in its solitude.

3. You wish for the countryside and nomads, I seek
But the Iraqi countryside is not like the nomads.

4. There the breeze is free like me, aimless
And its spring water pure like my love.

5. If the wind blew towards a veiled beloved,
Her admirers would ride to her on peaks, fearless.

6. I poured passion towards her though she was forbidden
So helplessly my passion turns to one whose affection can be attained.

7. A love that neither nearness nor distance comforts,
An old longing that no other longing resembles,

8. Imprisoned with no release, fervor yet no relief,
Sickness with no cure, intoxication yet no sobering.

9. Exertion that for me is repose,
And poison whose taste in my mouth is sweet.

10. If not for passion no lightning would have exhausted me,
No longing led me astray nor song shaken me.