أَشابَ رَأسي قَبلَ أَترابي

حُبّي لِمَن حُبّيهِ أَزرى بي

My hair turned gray before my peers

My head has turned to gray before my peers,

My love for the one I love grew over the years

For love of one whose love has brought me low.

عَلِقتُ مِن حَيني وَمِن شِقوَتي

أَخا مُزاحٍ يَتَمَرّى بي

Since my youth and all its toil

Through doom and misery I became ensnared

A joking brother playing with me

By a jester who makes mockery of me.

لابِسَ سيما قائِلٍ صادِقٍ

مَخبورُهُ مَخبورُ كَذّابِ

Wearing the marks of honesty

He wears the aspect of a truthful man,

His knowledge comes from reading

But tested, proves a liar through and through.

تُخبِرُني عَن قَلبِهِ كُتبُهُ

إِنَّ بِهِ أَعظَمَ مِمّا بي

He tells me of his heart through his writing

His letters bring me tidings of his heart,

That it holds more than mine could ever grasp

Claiming his passion far exceeds my own,

حَتّى كَأَنّي واجِدٌ حِسُّهُ

أَو مَسَّهُ مِن دونِ أَطرابي

Until I feel I know his essence

Until I seem to feel his very sense,

Or touched him without my unease

Or touch him, closer than my closest friends.