عرَّفْ كمالَ الدِّينِ عنَي ما ترى

وانقل لَهُ هذا الحديثَ كما جَرى

Describe to Kamal al-Din what you see,

And convey this conversation to him as it occurred.

واخبرهُ عنّي أنني في حالةٍ

فارقتُ منها في الدُّجى طيفَ الكرى

And inform him about me that I am in a state,

Which I parted from in the darkness a specter of the two dear ones.

متقلبّاً فوقَ الفراش كأنّني

أودعتُ من لَهَبِ الجوانحِ مجمرا

Tossing and turning on the bed as if

I had ignited a blaze in my soul.

أُحمى فأُسقى بعدَ بَرْدٍ مَسّني

لو أنّني سيفٌ لَصرْت مُجَوْهرا

I have fever, so I am given after the intense chill that afflicted me,

A drink - if only I were a sword I would have been adorned with jewels.

وأرى الشرابَ ولوا شراب بقيعةٍ

وغدايَ أكثرهُ أراهُ مُزوَّرا

And I see the drink although it is a drink from Biqa Valley,

And tomorrow - most of it I see falsified.

طَوراً تَراني بالوهادِ مُزَمّلا

أشكو وطوراً بالحصيرِ مُدَثّرا

Sometimes you see me wrapped up in blankets,

Complaining, and other times wrapped in a mat.

في عُصَبةٍ بعدَ اخضرارِ معزَّةٍ

قَد عاينوا بالذُّلِّ موتاً أحمرا

In a band after the greenery of Ma'zan,

Who have witnessed the death in humiliation, red.

فَرضانِ سقمٌ ثمَّ فقرٌ مدقعٌ

فلعلَّ جودَكَ أن يداوي الأخطرا

It is the sickness of Ridwan, then abject poverty,

So perhaps your generosity will cure the most dangerous.

ولئن سَلِمتُ جعلتُ شكري كافلاً

ولئن هلكتُ فلا حِقاً أنْ تُؤجَرا

And if I recover, I will make my gratitude inviolable,

And if I die, you have no right to be rewarded.