عَلِقتُ مِن شَقوَتي وَمِن نَكَدي

مُزَنَّراً وَالصَليبُ في عُنُقِه

I was tormented by my wretchedness and misery

To my misery and wretchedness, I became ensnared,

Wearing a cassock with a cross around his neck

By a sash-wearing youth, with a cross upon his neck.

أَقبَلَ يَمشي إِلى كَنيسَتِهِ

فَكِدتُ أَقضي الحَياةَ مِن فَرَقِه

He came walking towards his church

He approached, making his way toward his church,

I almost died of fright from seeing him

And I nearly breathed my last from sheer awe of him.

فَقُلتُ مَن أَنتَ بِالمَسيحِ وَبِال

إِنجيلِ سَطَّرتُهُ عَلى وَرَقِه

I said "Who are you, by Christ and the

I said, 'Who are you?' swearing by the Messiah,

Gospel whose pages extol him

And by the Gospel inscribed upon the page,

وَبِالصَليبِ الَّذي تَدينُ لَهُ

فَقالَ بَدرُ السَماءِ في أُفُقِه

And by the cross you worship

And by the Cross to which you pledge your faith.'

The full moon in the sky said "This is my horizon"

He replied, 'I am the full moon of the sky upon its horizon.'

سَأَلتُهُ عَن مَحَلِّ بيعَتِهِ

فَقالَ في نارِهِ وَفي حُرَقِه

I asked where his goods were sold

I asked him of the location of his sanctuary,

He said "In my fire and burning"

He answered, 'Amidst the fire and the burning flames.'

فَالوَيلُ لي مِن طِلابِ مُحتَبِسٍ

صِرتُ كَميناً لَهُ عَلى طُرُقِه

Woe to me from the seekers of the detained

So woe is me for pursuing one so inaccessible,

I lay in wait for him on his paths

I have become a hidden snare upon his paths.

يا مَن رَأى عاشِقاً أَخا كَلَفٍ

يَزدادُ حِرمانُهُ عَلى قَلَقِه

O you who saw a lover, a stubborn brother

O who has seen a lover, brother to deep affliction,

His deprivation grows despite his anxiety

Whose deprivation grows alongside his distress.