قالت أرى دمعةً في عَيْنِكَ اشتعلتْ

فقلتُ بل جَمْرَةٌ من قَلْبي ارتحلتْ

She said, “I see a tear in your eye that has caught fire.”

I said, “No—an ember that journeyed from my heart.”

دفَنْتُها زَمَناً كيلا أبوحَ بما

لقيتُ من فتنِ الدنيا وقَدْ هَزُلَتْ

For a time I buried it, lest I reveal what

I suffered from the trials of the world, as it dwindled away.

تَوَسَّدَتْ أضلُعي واسْتَمْرأتْ كَبدي

وما ارْعَوَتْ من خطاياها وما وَجِلتْ

It made a pillow of my ribs and savored my liver,

Never desisting from its offenses, never trembling in fear.

يا ليتني قَبْلَ أنْ أشْقى بصُحْبَتِها

قَضَيْتُ نَحْبي ولَمْ أحْفِلْ بما عَمِلَتْ

Would that, before I suffered through its companionship,

I had met my death, heedless of all it wrought.