1. They departed, so I no longer ask about their homes
I tread my own soul in their footsteps

2. Lamenting that those whose necks were long are gone
Whose necks and cheeks were of their fires

3. And tears of my eyes, nay the eyes of my tear ducts
For the company of their beauty and the beauty of their company

4. My pact with them, and pearls from their sea shells
In the house, and ruby from their stones

5. And musk and camphor, the dust of their land
In it, and the water of roses from their rivers

6. The shining full moon does not look upon them
Fearing for its eyes from their lights

7. And I saw the sun folded away from it
After they rode on their Notus winds

8. Their departure wrenched away their men
And their women, children and elders

9. And their horses, camels and kittens
And their dogs, slaves and neighbors

10. The breeze blew hot for their absence as though
They had taken off their veils at dawn

11. And for their absence, the tresses of their night lengthened
In which the light of their day is covered

12. And the lovesick poor soul among their ruins
Is like the girdled, wrapped in their bosoms

13. Coming and going, hopeless or hopeful
For the sanctuary of their nearness and the nearness of their sanctuary

14. Her craving wandered through their homes
And her tear crept through their dwellings

15. Crying, do not ask him for news
Delirious when they ask about their news

16. And a beautiful doe, twisting among the restless
For lovers, in their righteousness and devotion

17. For union with them is bliss, and her rejection
Is misery, and her departure their ruin

18. And if she hid from them in rejection
Look what she tore away from their veils

19. No day passes for her, but she takes
From their lifespans when she comes

20. And their poetry started telling about them
What they had concealed of their secrets

21. I am their elder in loving her, and they read to me
What they composed of their poetry

22. Trusting the loosening of the scolder’s knot from their scolders
In what they presented of their excuses

23. The scolder did not accept when they came near
But they turned their backs