يا هَلْ تُصِيخونَ لي يَوْماً فأُسمِعُكُمْ

ما يُسْخِنُ العَينَ مِنْ هَمٍّ وتَبرِيحِ

Oh will you ever listen to me one day, so I can let you hear

What makes the eyes burn with sorrow and yearning

ولا أُطيلُ فَشرحُ القَولِ مُمْتَنِعٌ

إذْ لا يؤدِّيهِ صَدْرٌ غَيرُ مَشْرُوحِ

And I won't prolong, explaining is hard

For no chest can do it except an open one

لِي بَعْدَكُمْ زَفْرَةٌ لو يَسْتضيءُ بِهَا

سَارٍ لأغنَتْهُ عن ضَوْءِ المَصَابِيحِ

After you I have a sigh, if it were lit

It would suffice a wanderer instead of lamps' light

وأدْمُعٍ إن جَرَتْ حُمْراً فَلاَ عَجَبٌ

فَقَدْ مَرَرْتُ بأجْفَانٍ مَجَارِيحِ

And tears, if they streamed red, no wonder

For I have passed by weeping eyelids

فَهَلْ يُبَلُّ إذَا اسْتَسْقَى لِقاءَكُمُ

غَليلُ ظَامٍ دُوَينَ الوِرْدِ مَطْرُوحِ

Can a thirsty shadow be sated, when it asks to see you

The thirst of a wilted flower flung on the ground

لَفَقْرُ إنْسَان عيْنيهِ لرُؤيَتِكُمْ

علَى النَّوى فقرُ جُثْمَانٍ إلى رُوحِ

For a man's poverty is his eyes longing to see you

Like the poverty of a body to its soul

وهَلْ إذَا عَزَّ قُربٌ أن يَزُورَكُمُ

عَنِّي لِفَرطِ اشْتيَاقِي نَاسِمُ الرِّيحِ

And if nearness becomes difficult to visit you

Far away from you, almost carried off by the breeze

فَشَاعَكُم حَيثُ ما كُنتُمْ سَلاَمُ شَجٍ

حَيٍّ يَحدُّ حُسَامَ البُعْدِ مَذْبُوحِ

So my greetings to you wherever you are, greetings of one

Alive, whose sword of separation is unsheathed