1. I salute you, O abode of dignity, with a wreath
From a lover with a slender waist and braided hair,

2. O my greatest delight and source of my pleasure,
And dwelling of those I love and made covenants with.

3. They were unjust to him, so I will not cool my burning thirst
Until I rub my cheeks in his dust.

4. If I were answered when I call, I would say:
“O days of my union with the loved ones, return!”

5. O days of the dark-lipped ones, who never break
A promise, givers of generosity.

6. And the soft-limbed gazelle, she of the kisses
That distract from the sweetness of the red wine.

7. I called her while the caravan was between one bidding farewell,
Bearing passion, and one bidding farewell, submissive.

8. O roe of the rugged land, passion did no wrong
If you were of my hunting or some of my prey.

9. They said: “Youth can intercede for sins,”
But I have not returned with an intercessor driven away.

10. They said: “Wealth makes it beautiful,” so I set out
For the shade of the son of ʿAbd al-Ẓāhir the outstretched.

11. So I set out displaying my resolve, love,
My mount, my aims, and my ode,

12. And I traveled by night to him, drawing near
While yearning brought him closer, though remote.

13. Neither the ruggedness of Syria’s land keeps me away
Nor the elongated sands, nor the breadth of the waste,

14. Until I alighted near the one by whom the paths
Of guidance and the proofs of monotheism were made clear.