سَأَشكُرُ لِلذِكرى صَنيعَتَها عِندي

وَتَمثيلَها لي مَن أُحِبُّ عَلى البُعدِ

I shall thank memory for the favor it has bestowed upon me,

And for picturing the one I love to me, despite the distance.

يُقَرِّبُهُ التَذكارُ حَتّى كَأَنَّني

أُعايِنُهُ في كُلِّ أَحوالِهِ عِندي

Remembrance brings the beloved so near that it is as though

I am beholding that presence in every state, right here beside me.

فَقَد كادَتِ الذِكرى تَكونُ كَأَنَّها

مُشاهَدَةٌ لَولا التَوَحُّشُ لِلفَقدِ

Indeed, memory has almost transformed into the very act

Of seeing, were it not for the savage desolation of loss.

تَمَثَّلُ لي أَن لا أَقولَ عَلى النَوى

فَيا لَيتَ شِعري ما الَّذي أَحدَثَت بَعدي

The image appears to me, so I need not say during our separation:

"Oh, would that I knew what has come to pass since I left."

لِأَنّي وَإِن كانَت مِنَ الناسِ واثِقٌ

لِنَفسِيَ مِنها بِالدَوامِ عَلى العَهدِ

For I—though the beloved is but human—am confident

Deep within my soul, of a constant fidelity to our covenant.