1. إلى من وطت هام السماكين رجلاه

    من الحمد والتسليم والمدح أسناه

    To him whose feet have trodden the heads of the two Simāk stars,

    The loftiest praise, salutations, and acclaim.

  2. أخي ووصي والمعرض نفسه

    لكسب الذي لاقى فيا سره اللَه

    My brother, a trustee, and the one who risks himself

    To gain what he has encountered—may God gladden him!

  3. ولهفي إذا أعيت علي مذاهبي

    وحصني إذا أودى بي الدهر أرقاه

    And my anguish when my paths fail me,

    And my fortress, which I climb when Time brings me to ruin.

  4. وغيث إذا استمطرته أمطر الغنى

    علي وأحيتني مدى الدهر كفاه

    And life-giving rain that, when I seek its showers, rains down wealth

    Upon me; his two palms have kept me alive throughout Time.

  5. عليه من الصب البعيد تحيةً

    تقيم على مر الليالي بمغناه

    To him, from this distant, lovesick one, a greeting

    That abides in his dwelling as the nights pass.

  6. يحركها من خالص الشوق نسمةً

    لتحظى بمرأى من هواني وأهواه

    A breeze of pure longing stirs it,

    That it may glimpse him who loved me, whom I love.

  7. على الرغم مني أن تراه رسالتي

    ولم تكتحل عيني زماناً بمرآه

    Against my wishes, my letter sees him,

    While my eye has long lacked the kohl of beholding him.

  8. رجوت بأن يأتي إليه بشيره

    قديماً فلم أظفر بما أترجاه

    I hoped that his herald of good news would come to him

    Long ago, but I did not attain what I hoped for.

  9. أحن إلى رؤيا الحبيب ولم أجد

    سبيلاً لها يا بعد ما أتمناه

    I yearn to behold the beloved, but I have not found

    A way to it—how distant is what I wish for!

  10. وما صبر من لم يصطحبه حميمه

    بحيث إذا مسته ضراء ناداه

    What patience can one have whose dear friend is not beside him,

    So that, when hardship touches him, he may call to him?

  11. ومن لم يلاحظه على الدهر خله

    فلا بد أن تشتد في الناس بلواه

    And one whose friend does not watch over him through Time

    Must face ever harsher trials among people.

  12. أخي كيف سلواني وهجرك قاتلي

    وكيف اصطباري والتباعد أفناه

    My brother, how can I find solace when separation from you kills me?

    And how can I endure, when distance has destroyed my endurance?

  13. أخي لعبت فينا الليالي بغدرها

    لحا اللَه هذا الدهر ما كان أجفاه

    My brother, the nights have toyed with us through their treachery.

    May God curse this Time—how cruel it has been!

  14. إلى اللَه أشكو حادث الدهر إذا رمى

    فؤادي بسهم البين ما كان أمضاه

    To God I complain of Time's calamity, when it shot

    My heart with parting's arrow—how piercing it was!

  15. وأغمد في أحشائه صارم النوى

    فقدع أعماه ومزق أحشاه

    And sheathed separation's keen sword within its entrails,

    Then struck it blind and tore its entrails apart.

  16. وأصبحت من جور الزمان كأنني

    سليم سقته السم أنياب أفعاه

    And through Time's injustice I have become as though I were

    A snakebitten man made to drink venom by his viper's fangs.

  17. وافردني عمن إذا فاه بإسمه

    لسان لباناتي في الفور لباه

    And it left me alone, apart from one who, whenever his name was spoken

    By the tongue of my wishes, answered it at once.

  18. رويداً فقد مس الهوى بفؤاده

    وذاب من الهجر المبرح أقصاه

    Gently now, for love has touched his heart,

    And its deepest part has melted from agonizing estrangement.

  19. وأسعر في أكباده جمرة الغضا

    وفارق من عيش المسرة أهناه

    And kindled a ghaḍā ember within his vitals,

    And he has lost the sweetest share of joyful living.

  20. وأودى به الربع الخلي صبابةً

    إلى لمحت أطلال مغناه عيناه

    And the deserted dwelling has destroyed him with yearning;

    His eyes glanced toward the ruins of his dwelling.

  21. تمكن مني ما حييت غرامه

    فلست وإن طال التباعد أقلاه

    Love for him has taken hold of me for as long as I live;

    So I do not hate him, however long the separation.

  22. وقد زاد ما بي من هوى وصبابةً

    فراق جنين آنستني قضاياه

    And the love and yearning within me have been deepened

    By separation from Janīn, whose affairs had comforted me.

  23. وأسكنته واللَه بين أضالعي

    فما الصبر عمن في الأضالع سكناه

    And, by God, I have lodged him between my ribs.

    What patience can I have without him whose home is within my ribs?

  24. فليت الليالي آذنتني بقربه

    وأسعدني دهري بنور محياه

    If only the nights would announce his nearness to me,

    And my Time would gladden me with the light of his face.

  25. إذا ذكرته النفس ملت حياتها

    ولولاه فارقت الحياة ولولاه

    When my soul remembers him, it grows weary of its life;

    And but for him, it would forsake life—and but for him.

  26. فوا لهفي شطب بي الدار عنهم

    وهل ينفع النائي مقالة لهفاه

    Alas, my grief! My dwelling has cut me off from them.

    And can a cry of 'Alas!' help one far away?

  27. واسأل عنهم كل ركب يمر بي

    سؤال عليل سالمته مناياه

    And I ask every caravan that passes me about them,

    Like a sick man with whom death has made peace.

  28. ومن يسأل الركبان عن كل غائب

    فيحظى ببشراه يساء بمعناه

    And whoever asks the riders about every absent one

    May receive glad news of him, yet be saddened by its meaning.

  29. وقد أرغمت قلب المتيم ليلة

    إطار بها عند الكرى طير رؤياه

    And a night has humbled the lovesick heart,

    In which, during sleep, the bird of his dream sent it flying.

  30. كأن قد أصاب الدهر زندي علةً

    فما سقطت من وقعها غير يمناه

    As though Time had afflicted my forearm with an illness,

    So that beneath its blow, only the right hand fell.

  31. وهاتيك رؤياً يزعج النفس أمرها

    إذا صدقت من كاشف الحكم دعواه

    And that is a dream whose import troubles the soul,

    If the claim of one who reveals the decree proves true.

  32. ولكن ستبدو زخرفاً من تضرعي

    لدى العروة الوثقى الذي نتولاه

    But it will prove a false fancy through my supplication

    Before the firmest handhold, to whom we give allegiance:

  33. إمام إذا عض الزمان بضرسه

    علينا فبالنصر المقدر ينهاه

    An Imam who, when Time sinks its molar

    Into us, checks it through ordained victory.

  34. فما ذل لا واللَه من كان مولاه

    ولا عز لا واللَه من كان عاداه

    So none under his patronage is humbled—no, by God!

    Nor is one who has opposed him exalted—no, by God!

  35. فيا من سألت اللَه إصلاح شأنه

    عسى اللَه من سقم بأعضاه شافاه

    So, O you whose condition I have asked God to set right,

    May God heal him of the sickness in his limbs:

  36. تعطف على مرء الزمان برقعةٍ

    بها للفتى المفتون بالهجر محياه

    Show pity, with a letter, to a man beset by Time;

    In it lies life for the young man tormented by separation.

  37. ولا عجب ممن إذا ذكر اسمه

    لدي اعترتني هزة عند ذكراه

    And no wonder, for whenever his name is mentioned

    Before me, a tremor seizes me at his remembrance;

  38. وهام به قلب المتيم رغبةً

    فهيهات إن تستطعم النوم جفناه

    And the lovesick heart is enraptured with longing for him,

    So his two eyelids are far from savoring sleep.