سألت رجال الطبّ أخبر كلهم

وهم أهل تجريب وأهل ذكاء

I asked the doctors, all learned men,

I questioned the physicians, and they all confirmed,

Experts in medicine and intelligence,

For they are men of experience and keen intelligence,

بأنّ سقيم الحبّ هيهات ما له

دواء إذا ما الحب أصبح نائي

About the illness of love - alas! When love is distant

That for the one sick with love—alas—there is no

There is no cure for the lover's agony.

Remedy, once the beloved has become distant.

عسى ولعل اللّه أني برد الأسى

فإن رجاء الوصل بعض دواء

May God grant that sorrow passes;

Perchance God may bring about the cooling of this grief,

For hope of union is itself a remedy.

For the hope of reunion is, in itself, a partial cure.

ولو لم يكن للعاشقين تقرّب

لوقت وصال ما بقوا لمساء

If lovers could not sometimes meet

And were it not that lovers could draw near in thought

They would not endure the nights of separation.

To a time of meeting, they would not survive until dusk.

وأن دام هجر الحبّ أو زاد بينه

فذلك داءٌ لم يزل بشفاء

If the beloved's estrangement lasts or grows,

But if the abandonment endures, or the separation widens,

That is an illness which comes with its cure.

Then that is a malady that no cure can ever remove.

وفي من مضوا في شرعة الحب والهوى

له أسوةٌ فليصبرن لبلاء

So let those who walk the path of love and passion

And in those who have passed away within the creed of love and passion,

Follow the example of past lovers and be patient in trial.

He finds a precedent; so let him endure the trial with patience.