يا حَبّذا مَنْ زارَني

مِن بَعدِ صَدٍّ وَاِجتنابِ

Oh how I wished for the one who visited me

After estrangement and avoidance

نَشوانَ في أعطافهِ

طَرَبُ الشَبيبةِ والشَّبابِ

Exuberant in his embrace

Is the fervor of youth and adolescence

وَشكوت لمّا أنْ شكوْ

تُ إِلى نَفورِ القلبِ نابِ

And I complained when I complained

To the aloofness of the heart I turned

مُستَنزِرٍ منِّي الجَوى

مُستحقرٍ لعظيمِ ما بِي

Looking down on me, my love scorned

Disdaining my great devotion

أجلَلْتُهُ أو خِفتُهُ

فكفيتُهُ ثِقْلَ العِتابِ

I honored him or I feared him

So I spared him harsh reproach

وقنعتُ منهُ بزَوْرَةٍ

عَرَضتْ ولم تكُ في حسابي

And I contented myself with his fleeting glimpse

That appeared though it was not in my account

جاءتْ بلا طَلَبٍ وكمْ

صفوٍ تكدّرَ بالطِّلابِ

It came without request, yet how

Sweetness is marred by longing

لَو عَنّ لي في نَيلها

طمعٌ لبعتُ بها شبابي

If I had hoped to attain it

I would have traded my youth for it