كانَ له من يحبُّ سلما

لم يجترم في الوصالِ جرما

He had someone he loved peacefully

Who did no wrong in their union

فلم يدَعهُ الوشاةُ حتَّى

جاهرَهُ بالصدودِ ظُلما

But the slanderers would not leave him be

Until oppressively they spurned him openly

فغرَّهُ الوجدُ والتصابي

فهام حزناً وذابَ سقما

So passion and yearning overcame him

And he pined in sorrow, melting in anguish

واشتاقَ حتَّى له أنينٌ

من كبدٍ لا تزالُ تدمى

And longed so intensely he moaned

From a liver that kept on bleeding