ليت النسيم إذا حملت عاتقه

شوقاً تقصر عنه الكتب والرسل

If only the breeze, when bearing upon its shoulder

A yearning that books and messages fall short of,

يهدي تحية أشواقي إلى ملك

يفيض من راحتيه الرزق والأجل

Would convey my affectionate greetings to the king

From whose palms flow sustenance and fate.

كأن صدري من ضيق ومن حرج

للوافدين إلى أبوابه سبل

My chest is constricted and burdened

For those arriving at his gates in droves.

وجدت عن كل شيء غائب بدلاً

وليس لي عوض منهم ولا بدل

I have found substitutes for all things absent

Yet have no substitute or replacement for them.

كم ليلة بات وجدي وهو مشتعل

وخاطري بسواه ليس يشتغل

How many a night my love for him burned

While my thoughts were occupied with none but him.

إذا تذكرت أيامي بحضرته

ضاقت علي فلا سهل ولا جبل

When I recall my days in his presence,

The easy and the arduous narrow for me.

جزنا بساحة عز الدين بابتدرت

من المباسم في أرجائها القبل

We dwelled in the courtyard of al-Malik al-‘Adil

And stole kisses amid its far reaches.

وأوهمتنا عطاياه وهيبته

حضوره فاستجد الرعب والأمل

His gifts and awe made us imagine

His presence, so dread and hope were renewed.

وطال ما غاب ليث الغاب منتقلاً

والرعب في الغاب باق ليس ينتقل

Long has the lion of the thicket departed

And though dread remains in the thicket, it too shall pass.