وغائب كنت مهموما بغيبته

شوقا إليه ومشتاقا إلى خبره

Absent you were, I pined for you

Yearning for you, longing for news of you

حتى إذا جاء أدنى الناس كلهم

غيري وأني ما أصبحت من وطره

Until when people came, all but me

Were welcomed, while I was no longer wanted

أغفيته من وصالي وهو يكرهه

صبرا وفي الصبر ضرّ عند مصطبره

I ignored you though we met, which displeased you

With patience, though patience hurts the patient one

وقلت للنفس كوني عند مقدمه

بحيث ما كنت منه وهو في سفره

And I said to myself, be as you were

When he was away, on his journey

لله در الليالي أي معتبر

فيها لمن هو محظوظ بمعتبره

Praise God for the nights, O wise one

fortunate is he who learns from them

وخير ما يصنع المسكين بعد تقى

لله والصون إقبال على كسره

The best a poor man can do, after piety

To God, and chastity, is tend to his ruin