قَصَدتُ إِلى العَليا بِهِمَّةِ عاجِزٍ

فَنوديتُ إِلى القُربِ مِن دونِ حاجِزِ

I aspired to the highest with the ambition of one helpless,

Yet I was called to come close without any barrier.

وَنُبِّئتُ أَنَّ الوَصلَ مِن قَبلِ نَيلِهِ

عِقابَ سَعيٍ في قَطعِها كُلَّ فائِزِ

And I was told that before attaining union

There is retribution for striving to attain it.

وَكُنتُ وَقلبي فيهِ أَي غَريمَةٍ

تَطالَعَ أَحوالَ الذَرى وَالمَراكِزِ

While my heart and I, what enemy

Observes the states of mankind and glory?

أَرى بَذلَ روحي في هَواكُمُ فَريضَةٌ

وَبُخلي بِها في حُبِّكُم غَيرَ جائِزِ

I see sacrificing my soul for your love as a duty,

And my stinginess with it in loving you is not proper.

وَأَنتُم مِنّي قَلبي وَراحَةَ خاطِري

وَأَنتُم مُرادي لا حُصولَ الجَوائِزِ

You are my heart and the comfort of my thoughts,

You are my goal, not the attainment of prizes.

وَفي السِرِّ داعٍ لَو أَجَبتَ دُعاءَهُ

لَصِرتَ قَرينِ الوَحشِ بَطنَ المَفاوِزِ

And in private a supplicant, if you answered his prayer

You would be the companion of the wild in the midst of the deserts.