ما جِئتُ ذَنباً بِهِ اِستَوجَبتُ سَخطَكُمُ

أَستَغفِرُ اللَهَ إِلّا شِدَّةُ النَظَرِ

I came not with a fault for which I deserved your anger

I have committed no sin by which I merited your wrath,

I ask Allah's forgiveness, save for the intensity of my gaze

I ask God's forgiveness—save for the intensity of my gaze.

يا أَهلَ بَغدادَ أَلقى ذا بِحَضرَتِكُم

فَكَيفَ لَو كُنتُ بَينَ التُركِ وَالخَزَرِ

O people of Baghdad! I who am here before you

O people of Baghdad, if I encounter this in your presence,

How would it be if I were amidst the Turks and the Khazars

Then how would it be were I among the Turks and Khazars?

سَحَّت عَلَيَّ سَماءُ الحُزنِ بَعدَكُمُ

وَأَحدَقَت بي بُحورُ الشَوقِ وَالفِكَرِ

Upon me the sky of sorrow cast down after you all

The skies of sorrow poured down upon me in your absence,

And the seas of longing and thought closed in around me

And the seas of longing and brooding thought surrounded me.