شَوقي إِليك كَثيرٌ فوق ما اصفُ

وَحبذا الشوق لا حزنٌ ولا أسفُ

My longing for you is far more than I can describe

How wonderful this longing, with no sorrow or regret

يا لَيتَ كل بعادٍ من احبتنا

كبعدنا حيث أَنا سوف نأتلفُ

If only all separation from our loved ones

Was like our separation, so we may be reconciled

بل لَيتَ احبابنا كانت اعادينا

فَلَم يكن منهمُ سُقمٌ ولا دَنَفُ

Rather, I wish our loved ones were our enemies

So there would be no illness or contempt from them

وَالشَوقُ أَقتَل من بُعدٍ يولدُهُ

وَالبُغضُ أَفتكُ منهُ الحُبُّ وَالكَلَفُ

Longing is more deadly than the separation it causes

Hatred more fatal than love and intimacy

يَشكو المحبون من بُعدٍ وما عَلموا

طيبَ التقرُّبِ لَولاهُ وَلا عَرَفوا

The lovers complain of separation, not knowing

The goodness of being close, had they not been far

بِتنا كأَنَّ الأَفاعي في مضاجعنا

بلينها نَلتَهي والسمَّ نرتشفُ

We are as though snakes lie in our beds

Whose softness we enjoy, whose poison we sip

نَظُنُّ أَنّا نَجونا والزَمانُ طوى

كَشحاً وَلَم ندرِ أَنَّ الدهرَ لا يَقِفُ

We think we have escaped, while time has coiled

Deceptively, and we don't know time does not stand still

لَئن عفا عن نفوس القوم لم يكُ بال

عافي عن المالِ وَهوَ الياءُ والأَلفُ

If he forgave the souls of the people, he would not care

To pardon money, for it is the essence

وَكَم وكم ذلَّ قومٌ بعد عزهمِ

فاصبحوا بالمَنايا عندهم حَلِفُ

And how many, how many people were humiliated after their glory

And wake to find death keeps them company

وَهَكَذا نقمة المولى كنعمتهِ

محيطةٌ بِجَميع الناس تكتنفُ

Thus is the vengeance of the Lord like His blessings

Encompassing all people and embracing them

يا مَن غدت شرفاً عندي محبتهُ

نعم محبتهُ عندي هي الشرفُ

O you who have become honor in my eyes through love

Yes, his love to me is honor

وَمَن أُساءُ اذا ما مسَّهُ ضررٌ

حتىّ كأَنَّ اليَّ الضرَّ ينصرفُ

And one who is wronged but does not retaliate

As if the harm was repelled from him

وَالطاهر القلب قد مدَّ الزَمانُ لَهُ

يَداً وعادتهُ الإِيذاءُ والصلف

While the pure of heart - time has extended its hand to him

Yet its way is harm and insolence

اشكو وَلستَ بشاكٍ فعلهُ بكَ إِذ

اضحى بنفسك من أَن تَشتَكي أَنَفُ

I complain yet am not complaining, for what was done to you

Has made you unable to complain for yourself

لا يثقُلنَّ علينا ان نُصابَ بِهِ

فالبَدر في كبدِ العلياءِ ينخسفُ

Let it not weigh on us if we are struck by it

For the full moon in the midst of the stars becomes eclipsed

وَلا عَلى البدرِ مخسوفاً فانَّ له

عَمّا بِهِ أُسوةً فالشمس تنكسفُ

The eclipsed moon bears no shame, for the sun

Is precedent, eclipsed before it

ما اِستعظَمَ المَرءُ من شيءٍ فانكرُهُ

الا رأَى فوقهُ والدهر ينتصفُ

How could a person belittle something and reject it

Except after seeing one greater, as time halves