تَصوّفتَ في زَمَنِ الصّبابَةِ والصِّبا

تَصوّفتَ في زَمَنِ الصّبابَةِ والصِّبا

وَجئتَ الهوى شَيخاً بنيَّ الشماليَّه

وَجئتَ الهوى شَيخاً بنيَّ الشماليَّه

You became a Sufi in the days of ardent longing and youth,

You turned ascetic in the era of youth and adolescence

And came to love as a shaykh, little son of al-Shamaliyya.

And came to passion an old man, my friend from the north

وزوجُك بِكرٌ لا مخاضَ ينالُها

وزوجُك بِكرٌ لا مخاضَ ينالُها

وأنت بها قيسٌ أقام ببرّيّه

وأنت بها قيسٌ أقام ببرّيّه

And your wife is a virgin whom no labor pains befall,

While your wife is an untouched virgin

And in loving her, you are Qays, settled in a wilderness.

And with her you are like Qays dwelling in the wilderness

إِذا قُمتُما لِلذكر في مَرتَعِ الهَوى

إِذا قُمتُما لِلذكر في مَرتَعِ الهَوى

فَإِنّك سَعدانٌ وَزَوجُك سَعديّه

فَإِنّك سَعدانٌ وَزَوجُك سَعديّه

When you both rise for remembrance in love’s pasture,

When you both rise for the ritual in the pasture of desire

Then you are a monkey, and your wife is Saʿdiyya.

You are Sa'dan and your wife is Sa'diyya