1. Ask the abodes about the people of Nejd,
If asking the abodes avails,

2. Stand awhile by these ruins,
Haply it may quench the fires of my ardour.

3. Abodes wherein I dwelt with my loved ones,
And attained my wish and fulfilled my promise.

4. No mention is made to me of a bygone age,
In their shades, but it kindles my fires anew.

5. I roamed from India to Nejd, smitten with love,
While Nejd is far from the land of India.

6. And I met every breeze that blew,
Deeming it at night the zephyr of Nejd.

7. Alas! The severity of parting and passion!
How they have ulcerated my liver and cheek!

8. Can the union, which separation has shattered like beads,
Be cemented together again?

9. Can the days of youth return,
Or the departed days of passion?

10. I moan as the dove moans at dawn,
Vainly, for the dove's intent is not mine.

11. I weep in sadness and confusion,
Not like the tears of jest.

12. The wild doves in the thicket thought at eve
That I possessed what they possessed of love.

13. They sport on its boughs while my heart
Yearns after those slender waists.

14. Great is the difference between joy and gaiety,
And a secret anguish and hidden pain.

15. My drink is pure though it tastes sweet,
Nor is my life happy after loss of love.

16. Ask my tears what my ribs conceal,
For the heart hides while the tears reveal.

17. How oft I recite verse when the zephyr blows,
Awaken, O languid ones of Nejd!