رَحَلوا فَما أَغفى مُقيمُهُمُ

بَقِيَ الدُجى وَهَوَت نُجومُهُمُ

They departed, yet their abode's dweller cannot sleep;

The gloom remained while their stars fell down.

وَخَلَت رِياضُهُمُ وَلَيسَ سِوى

ذِكرٍ وَذِكرُهُمُ نَسيمُهُمُ

Their meadows are vacant, with naught but

Remembrance, their memory, their breeze.

ما في اِتِّباعِ رِكابِهِم دَرَكٌ

أَفَلا تَنامُ وَلا تُنيمُهُمُ

No use in following their mounts' trail,

Won't you sleep instead of keeping them awake?

تَشكو لَيالي الوَصلِ بَعدَهُمُ

أَنَّى وَبَينَ الأُسدِ ريمُهُمُ

You complain to nights of union after they left,

How, when between us and them are their lions?

سَفَرٌ أُتيحَ لَهُ الحِمامُ بِهِ

وَسِواهُ يَنفَعُهُ قُدومُهُمُ

A journey allowed for pigeons, but none else;

And none benefits from their return but them.

يا مَن يُنَفِّرُنا بِمَطلِهُمُ

وَبِهِ جَرَت قِدماً رُسومُهُمُ

O he who agitates us by their absence,

By which their habits flowed.

في المَطلِ مَعنىً لَستَ تَعرِفُهُ

لا زالَ مَمطولاً غَريمُهُمُ

You know not the meaning in absence,

For their estranged one remains estranged.

دَع مَطلَهُم فَالمَطلُ يُذكِرُهُ

وَعَسى عَلى الذِكرى تُديمُهُمُ

Leave their absence be, for it reminds of them,

And maybe over recollection you make them stay.

في المَطلِ تَعذيبٌ يَطيبُ لَهُ

يا طيبَ ما فيهِ نَعيمُهُمُ

In absence is a torment that feels sweet,

Oh, how sweet is what's in it of their bliss!