1. O Waddah, ever merry and jesting,
Do you not fear the nearing of death?

2. Pray to the Lord of the Throne and take steps
That will save you on the day of stumbling and slipping.

3. O Death, you still stand in the way
Of every hopeful, however long their hope.

4. If one who fled from you escaped,
Then I would hasten the pace of my camel.

5. But your hands have reached the length
Of all, no matter how far the camel litters.

6. Your hands seize every one who travels
And whale of the sea and lion of the thicket.

7. Were it not for my fear of graves, I would have
Become from that fear always apprehensive and anxious.

8. I would have been a lover of the heart in passion;
For its passion is the darling of the thickets.

9. My sweetheart lives in the Hijaz; for her
An old jealous man rules, sick with illnesses.

10. My heart attached itself to the darling of the house of Muluk,
She of the two earrings and musky hairlocks.

11. She prattles ineloquently but I am pleased with her prattle,
Flowing gently like the running of honey.