أقول ولي قلب يفيض من الوجد

غراما وأحشاء تذوب من الصد

I speak, my heart overflowing with love's anguish,

with ardent love, my vitals melting from rejection:

ألا يا أهيل الحي والعلم الفرد

ترى هل علمتم ما لقيت من البعد

O dear folk of the encampment and the solitary hill,

I wonder: do you know what I have suffered from separation?

لقد جل ما اخفيه منه وما ابدي

احبايَ هل منكم لعينيَ نظرةٌ

Immense indeed is what I conceal of it and what I reveal.

My beloveds, is there a glance from you for my eye,

لتطفي بها نار وتبرد غلة

في اربعٌ لم تستطعهن مهجة

to quench a fire with it and cool a burning thirst?

Within me are four things no soul could bear:

فراق ووجد واشتياق ووحشة

تعددت البلوى على واحد فرد

parting, love's anguish, yearning, and loneliness.

Afflictions have multiplied upon one solitary soul.

فلم انس انسي بالحديث وعتبكم

واطيب اويقات تقضت بحبكم

I have not forgotten my joy in conversation and your reproaches,

nor the sweetest brief moments spent in loving you,

ومحضر عيش بالحمى قد زها بكم

رعى الله اباما مضت لي بقربكم

nor that scene of life in the protected grounds, radiant with you.

May God cherish the days I spent near you,

كأني بها قد كنت في جنة الخلد

لقد كنت قبل اليوم بالبين هازلا

as though in them I had been in the Garden of Eternity.

Indeed, before today I used to jest about parting,

وبالحب مشغوف الفؤاد وذا هلا

فبادرني بالبين دهريَ عاجلا

my heart enthralled by love, while I was heedless.

Then my fate swiftly overtook me with separation.

هبوني امرأ قد كنت بالبين جاهلا

اما كان فيكم من هداني إلى الرشد

Suppose I was a man who had known nothing of parting—

was there no one among you to guide me aright?

علام صدود كل يوم وجفوة

ولا حرمة ترعى لنا ومودة

Why rejection and estrangement every day,

with no respect or affection shown to us?

وعهدي ولي فيكم وفاء وذمة

وكنت لكم عبد وللعبد حرمة

Yet I recall having your loyalty and binding pledge;

I was your slave, and a slave is owed respect.

فما بالكم ضيعتم حرمة العبد

بعثت لكم كتبي فعز إيابها

Why, then, have you neglected the respect owed to a slave?

I sent you my letters, but their return proved elusive.

وهامت بكم روحي فزاد عذابها

فما بالها قد ضاع فيكم حسابها

My soul was crazed with love for you, and its torment grew.

Why, then, does it count for nothing with you?

وما بال كتبي لا يرد جوابها

فهل اكرمت ان لا تقابل بالرد

And why do my letters receive no reply?

Have they been honored by being given no reply?

اطلتم غداة البعر في الحب بيننا

وملتم الى قطع الرسائل دوننا

You prolonged our parting in love on the morning of [separation?],

and chose to withhold your letters from us,

وقلتم قضيتم في المحبة ديننا

فاين حلاوات الرسائل بيننا

and said, 'You have paid your debt of love to us.'

Where, then, are the sweet joys of letters between us,

واين امارات المحبة والود

اتيتكُم ارجو لديكم مثوبة

and where are the signs of love and affection?

I came to you, hoping for a reward at your hands,

فعذبتُم روحي وكانت طروبة

وزدتم عذابي بالصدود صعوبة

but you tormented my soul, which had been joyful,

and made my torment harsher by shunning me.

ومالي ذنب يستحق عقوبة

ويا ليتها كانت بشيء سوى الصد

Yet I have no fault deserving punishment;

oh, if only it had been anything but rejection!

يلوم عليكم عاذلي بجهالة

وما انا من يسلو لطول ملالة

My reproacher ignorantly blames me for loving you,

yet I am not one to forget love through lingering weariness,

ولا يرتضي بعد الهوى بعلالة

واني لارعاكم على كل حالة

nor to settle, after passion, for a meager solace.

I shall surely cherish you in every circumstance;

وحقكُم انتم اعز الورى عندي

رسولكم وافي فحيا عليكم

by your honor, you are dearest to me of all people.

Your messenger arrived and offered greetings to you,

وبشرني اني اكون نزيلكم

فقبلت فاه كي اكافي جميلكم

and brought me glad tidings that I would be your guest.

So I kissed his mouth to repay your kindness.

ويا ليت عندي كل يوم رسولكم

فاسكنه عيني وافرشه خدي

Oh, if only your messenger were with me every day,

I would lodge him in my eye and make my cheek his bed.

الا يا عربيا يمموا الخيف من منى

ودونهمُ طعن الاسنة والقنا

O Arabs who headed for al-Khayf in Mina,

with thrusting spearheads and lances barring the way to them,

وبعدهم قد حال في الدهر دوننا

عليكم سلام الله والبعد بيننا

and their distance has, through time, barred our way—

God's peace be upon you, though distance lies between us,

وبالرغم مني ان اسلم مني بعد

and against my will I send you greetings from afar.