1. قلب الشجي المدله

    من ذا على الحب دله

    The heart of the grief-stricken, love-bewildered one—

    who guided it toward love,

  2. حتى غدا ذا ولوع

    مغرماً غريما موله

    till it became possessed by passion,

    enamored, love's debtor, distraught?

  3. سليب عقل لجثما

    نه من السقم حله

    He is bereft of reason; his body

    wears sickness as a robe.

  4. فؤاده ذاب وجداً

    وطرفه الدمع هله

    His heart has melted with longing,

    and his eye has poured forth tears.

  5. قد أنكر الحب دهرا

    وقال ما بي

    He denied love for an age,

    and said, “Nothing ails me.”

  6. وكيف ينكر شيء

    قامت عليه الأدله

    And how can a thing be denied

    when the evidence for it is established?

  7. يا من لمضنى معنى

    فرط الأسى قد أعله

    O who will aid a wasted, tormented man,

    whom excessive sorrow has made ill,

  8. مشتاق وصل حبيبٍ

    لما تولاه سله

    yearning for union with a beloved

    who, when wasting sickness overtook the lover,

  9. عنه نئا وعليه

    سيف القطيعه سله

    withdrew from him, and against him

    drew the sword of estrangement?

  10. باللَه ان تسألوه

    قتلي له من أحله

    For God's sake, ask him:

    who permitted him to kill me?

  11. فيا رسولي اليه

    اذا بلغت المحله

    O my messenger to him,

    when you reach his dwelling

  12. وخلت بدر الجمال ال

    مزري سنى بالأهله

    and think you see beauty's full moon,

    whose radiance puts the crescents to shame,

  13. فاخضع لديه وقبل

    ارضاً بها موطئ له

    bow humbly before him and kiss

    the ground where he sets foot.

  14. واقرأ سلامي عليه

    برأفةٍ ثم قل له

    And convey my greeting to him

    with tenderness, then say to him:

  15. الهجر من غير جرم

    يجوز في أي مله

    Estrangement without an offense—

    in what faith is it permitted?

  16. والهجر ان دام قتل

    والقتل حرمه الله

    And estrangement, if prolonged, is killing,

    and God has forbidden killing.

  17. واسأله وصلاً وكن

    اذا ما سألت بذله

    Ask him for union, and be

    humble whenever you ask.

  18. وصف له ما اقاسي

    من الجوى فلعله

    And describe to him what I endure

    of love's anguish—so perhaps he...

  19. قل قد تركناه صباً

    عقد التصبر حله

    Say: “We left him lovesick;

    he has undone the knot of endurance.

  20. يقول رآئيه هذا

    فتى اصابته خله

    Whoever sees him says, ‘This

    is a youth stricken by want.’

  21. قد صح ان هواه

    بعد الهدى قد أضله

    It is certain that his love

    has led him astray after guidance.

  22. فارحمة قبل ثواه

    وان ثوى فتوله

    So pity him before his burial,

    and if he dies, take him into your care.”

  23. إني وحقك لم ينلني

    هواه الا خله

    Indeed, by your claim on me, I have received

    nothing from his love but want.

  24. وإن شوقي اليه

    أذاب قلبي كله

    And indeed my longing for him

    has melted my whole heart.

  25. ويشهد الله أني

    احبه لا لعله

    And God bears witness that I

    love him, not for any motive.

  26. يا من تملك قلبي

    دون الأنام وحله

    O you who possess my heart

    to all others' exclusion, and dwell within it,

  27. رفقاً علي فإني

    لم اخط في نهج زله

    be gentle with me, for I

    have not stepped onto a path of error.

  28. مني عليك سلام

    ما المزن ودقاً اهله

    From me to you, peace,

    as long as the rainclouds pour down rain,

  29. وما اذاب هواك ال

    قلب الشجي المدله

    and as long as your love melts the

    heart of the grief-stricken, love-bewildered one.