1. Your imagination came to me after a long estrangement
So I made its resting place the delight of my eyes

2. From where did this imagination find its way to a land
The furthest and most unfamiliar of lands and plains

3. No, by Him who made the valley its abode
And India, beyond gems, my house

4. None guided it but the ascent of my sighs
As if it were a fire flaming for the secret

5. It revived the memory of one I did not forget
Whom remembrance did not suffice instead of recollection

6. Alas for the days in Hejaz and its dwellers
The land of Hejaz and its fragrant garden

7. Where my safety squared and the protection of hosts was my pasture
And its sanctuary was the house of my rest

8. How many a moon did I fancy for its beauty
Its fullness outshone the full moons

9. No doubt that it was the sun of morning
Even if its rising was from earrings

10. So my glance goes back and forth
Between the moonlight of nightfall and the sun of day

11. And many a night I spent infatuated
Intoxicated by the wine of his smile

12. I play with him though play calls up passion
And from love I lose my dignity and composure

13. Days when debts did not burden the twisted ones
My happiness and wishes did not come to fruition

14. Oh, most delightful were the days of union and most delightful
Were the days of the beloved and his house instead of mine

15. A time when I obeyed youth and passion
And in it I finished my turns of love

16. I pleased my loved ones and was harsh to those who blamed me
I gave up my excuse and discarded my pretexts

17. When the spring of union therein is not forbidden
No, and the steps of desire are not short

18. I did not give it its due, I refer that
To my aching heart and my streaming tears

19. I swear by Mecca, al-Hateem, Zamzam
And the House of the corners and curtains

20. Only the memory of Hejaz and its people
Made me lose my patience and composure