كَتَبْتُ وَبِي وَجْدٌ يَهِيجُ تَذَكُّرِي

عَلَى طِرْسِ كَافُورٍ بِحِبْرٍ كَعَنْبَرِ

I wrote, while passion stirred my recollection,

I wrote, possessed by a passion that stirs my memory,

On Chinese paper with ambergris-infused ink,

Upon camphor-white parchment, with ink like ambergris,

وَنَمَّقْتُ أَسْطَاراً عَلى ظَهْرِ مُهْرَقٍ

كَمَا رَاقَ تَطْرِيزٌ بِثَوْبٍ مُحَبَّرِ

And I decorated prose upon the surface of a parchment

And I embellished lines upon the surface of a scroll,

As exquisite as a brocade robe embroidered.

Like exquisite embroidery upon an ornate garment,

لِمَنْ غَاضَ صَبْرِي مِنْ نَوَاهُ وَهَزَّنِي

إِلَيْهِ اشْتِيَاقٌ كَالْقَنَا الْمُتَأَطِّرِ

For one whose patience left me because of his reproach that shook me

For one whose absence exhausted my patience, shaking me

To him a yearning cleaved like fitted armor,

With a yearning for him like a bending spear,

خَلِيلِي وَخِدْنِي نَجْلُ عَمِّي مُحَمَّدٍ

وَزَنْدِي الذِي أَوْرَى وَغَايَةُ مَفْخَرِي

My boon companion, pride of my uncle Muhammad,

My intimate friend and companion, my cousin Muhammad,

And my delight whom I befriended and apex of my pride,

The flint that sparked my fire, and the pinnacle of my pride,

وَغَادَرَنِي يَوْمَ النَّوَى تَعِسَ النَّوَى

وَلِي زَفَرَاتٌ مِثْلُ رَنَّاتِ مِزْهَرِ

Who left me on the day of parting, miserable day,

He left me on the day of parting—may parting be cursed!

And I have sighs like the warbling of songbirds,

While my sighs echo like the strumming of a lute,

وَمُوجِبُهُ إِهْدَاءُ أَزْكَى تَحِيَّةٍ

إِلَيْكُمْ كَعَرْفِ النَّدِّ ضَاعَ بِمِجْمَرِ

Prompting me to send to you the most gracious greetings,

Its purpose is to offer the purest greeting,

As fragrance of tender sprigs scattered into embers.

To you all, like the scent of aloeswood diffusing from a censer,

تَمُرُّ عَلَى رَوْضٍ أَنِيقٍ وَتَنْثَنِي

تَهُبُّ بِأَنْفَاسٍ كَرَيَّا الْيَلَنْفُرِ

Passing by a plush garden, you gently bend

Passing over an elegant garden, then swaying,

Rushing with breaths like soughing Tamarisk,

Blowing with breaths like the fragrance of the water lily,

فَتُعْرِبُ عَنْ شَوْقٍ ثَوَى بِأَضَالِعِي

وَعَنْ كَبِدِي الْحَرَّى وَطَرْفِي الْمُسَهَّرِ

Conveying a passion nested in my ribs

Expressing a longing that has settled deep within my ribs,

And my burning liver and sleepless eyes.

And of my burning liver and my sleepless gaze,

وَإِنِّي وَإِنْ شَطَّ الْمَزَارُ أَحِبَّتِي

صَفَاءُ وِدَادِي لَمْ يُشَبْ بِتَكَدُّرِ

Though the visits of loved ones have dwindled,

And though the distance to visit my loved ones is vast,

The serenity of my affection remains untainted.

The purity of my affection remains untainted by any murk,

أَحِنُّ وَأَصْبُو كُلَّ حِينٍ إِلَيْكُمُ

وَأُمْطِرُ دَمْعاً كَالْغَمَامِ الْكَنَهْوَرِ

I yearn and pine for you all the while,

I yearn and ache for you at every moment,

And rain tears like torrential showers,

Raining down tears like heavy, towering clouds,

أَجُودُ بِهِ كَيْمَا يُبَرِّدُ لَوْعَتِي

فَيُضْرِمُهَا مِثْلَ الْجَحِيمِ الْمُسَعَّرِ

Lavishing them so they may cool my torment,

I pour them out generously to cool my anguish,

And inflame it like a raging inferno.

Yet they ignite it further, like a blazing inferno,

فَأَعْجِبْ بِدَمْعٍ وَهْوَ مَاءٌ مُسَلْسَلٌ

يُؤَجِّجُ نَاراً فِي فُؤَادِي الْمُفَطَّرِ

Marvel at tears which are cascading water

So marvel at a tear, which is but cascading water,

Igniting a fire within my broken heart.

Yet kindles a fire within my shattered heart!

عَسَى مَنْ قَضَى بِالْبَيْنِ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا

وَيَنْظِمُنَا فِي سِلْكِ عِزٍّ مُؤَزَّرِ

May He who ordained separation reunite us,

Perhaps the One who decreed our separation will unite us,

And align us in the path of might and honor,

And string us together upon a mighty thread of glory,

فَنَمْرَحُ فِي أَكْنَافِ عَيْشٍ مُنَعَّمٍ

وَنَسْرَحُ فِي رَوْضِ السُّرُور ِالْمُنَضَّرِ

So we may frolic in the bosom of luxury living

So we may revel in the embrace of a blissful life,

And roam in a garden of bliss ever verdant.

And roam freely in the blossoming garden of joy,

وَدُونَكَ مِنِّي حُلَّةً عَبْقَرِيَّةً

مُعَطَّرَةَ الأَذْيَالِ حُفَّتْ بِجَوْهَرِ

And below, from me, is a robe of exquisite making

Accept from me this masterfully crafted raiment of words,

Scented at its fringes, embroidered with jewels,

With perfumed trailing hems, bordered with jewels,

تُفَاوِحُ نَشْرَ الرَّوْصِ دَبَّجَهُ الْحَيَا

وَتَنْفَحُ عَنْ مِسْكٍ ذَكِيٍّ وَعَنْبَرِ

Exhaling the aroma of a meadow saffron-embroidered,

It rivals the fragrance of a garden painted by the rain,

And redolent of sweet musk and ambergriss.

And breathes out the scent of sweet musk and ambergris.