حَفِظْنا له عهداً قَديماً مُطَرَّزاً

على القلبِ يَفْنى القلبُ والعهدُ لا يَفْنى

We kept an ancient covenant embroidered

upon the heart, the heart passes away but the covenant does not

وغِبْنا بكُمْ عن كلِّ عالٍ وخامِلٍ

وصُنَّا هواكُمْ في الضَّميرِ وما بُحْنا

We were absent from all high and low lands because of you

And we protected your love in our conscience and did not confess

لنا منكُمُ الإِسْعافُ بالقُرْبِ مِثلَما

لَكُمْ مُهْجَةٌ مشْغوفَةٌ بكُمُ مِنَّا

We have from you help with proximity just as

you have a soul enamored with you from us

طَوَيْتُمْ بلُبِّ القلبِ آياتِ حُبِّكُمْ

وعلَّمْتُموهُ في الهَوَى الحَنَّ والأَنَّا

You folded in the kernel of the heart the signs of your love

And taught it in passion, yearning and moaning

فإنْ أَنَّ آناً أَنَّ وجداً لقُرْبِكُمْ

وإنْ حَنَّ حِيناً للوُصولِ لَكُمْ حَنَّا

If it moaned for a while out of yearning for your nearness

And if it longed for a while for reunion with you, we longed

عَتَبْنا على الدَّهْرِ المُشِتِّ بفعلِهِ

وكيفَ زوَى أَقْمارَ طَلْعَتِكُمْ عَنَّا

We blamed fate for what it has done

And how it has veiled the moons of your rising from us

فيا لَيْتَهُ يوماً يَرِقُّ لحالِنا

ويجْمَعُنا حتَّى نَعودُ كَما كُنَّا

If only it would one day soften for our condition

And reunite us so we can go back to how we were