يقبِّل الأرض مشتاقٌ أضرَّ بهِ

طول التنائي وأقذى عينَه السهرُ

A yearning man kisses the earth, sorely afflicted

by long separation; sleeplessness has made his eye smart.

مروَّعُ القلب مكلومُ الحشا دنِفٌ

يكاد يَقضي ولا يُقضيَ له وطرُ

His heart terror-stricken, his innermost being wounded, he is lovesick;

he nearly dies, yet no desire of his is fulfilled.

حيرانُ لا القرب يطفي حر لوعتهِ

ولا تفارقهُ في بُعدِه الفكَرُ

Bewildered: nearness cannot quench the heat of his anguish,

nor, in his distance, do his thoughts leave him.

بعدت عني يا رأس الخليج فهل

أنت السما ومحيّا سيدي القمرُ

You have grown distant from me, O Ras al-Khalij—are you, then,

the heavens, and my lord’s countenance the moon?