يا لهفَ نفسي للأحبَّهْ

ورجائِهِم غَوْثَ الأطبَّهْ

Oh how my soul yearns for the beloved

And hopes for their relief, the remedy of remedies

لم يَشْفِهِمْ كدُّ الطبيـ

ـبِ ولا عنايتُهُ المُكِبَّهْ

The torment of the healer does not heal them

Nor does the attentive care of the devoted

لم تُقْضَ حاجتُهم ولا

نَفعتْهُمُ نفسٌ مُحِبّهْ

Their needs are not fulfilled, nor

Does a loving soul benefit them

ما زارهُم فرحٌ ولا

كانت كُروبُهمُ مُغِبَّهْ

No joy has visited them, nor

Have their sorrows been hidden

تَرْحاً لدارٍ إنما

سكانُها رُفَقٌ مُخِبَّهْ

Longing for a house, though

Its dwellers are severed companions

تقتادُهم نحو الرَّدى

طُرُقٌ إليه مُستتبَّهْ

Paths leading to ruin guide them

Well-trodden routes towards it

دارٌ غريبٌ خيرُها

وترى الشرورَ بها مُرِبَّهْ

A strange home, though its good

And evil you see interwoven

أدوَتْ وغابَ دَواؤُها

عن كل نفسٍ مُسْتطبَّهْ

Has wounded, while its cure

Escapes each aching soul

وصَفَتْ محبةُ أهلها

منها لمُدْغِلةٍ مُضِبَّهْ

The love of its people has described it

To the fiercely hostile as beloved

ناموا على صيْحاتها

بهمُ الشدادِ المُستهبَّهْ

They slept through its cries

Seized by overwhelming adversity

كم غرَّ قوماً حُلْوُها

من مُرِّها إلا الألِبَّهْ

How it deceived many with its sweetness

Except for the resolute amongst them

فتهافتوا في شُهْدِها

فتهالكوا مثل الأذِبَّهْ

So they rushed into its honey

And perished like moths

ما آنسَ الإنسانَ بال

دُنيا الدَّبوبِ له المُدبَّهْ

Nothing makes man intimate but the

Deceptive world, which entraps those led astray

تغدو عليه عَدُوَّةً

ويَعدُّها أمّاً وحِبَّهْ

Becoming his enemy at dawn

While he counts it as mother and beloved

يا لهف نفسي للأحبـ

ـبَة لو شَفى اللَّهْفُ الأحبَّهْ

Oh how my soul yearns for the beloved

If only the longing would heal the most ardent beloved