يا أبا الفضْلِ إنْ تغِبْ عن سوا

دِ العيْنِ ما غِبْتَ عنْ سَوادِ الفؤادِ

O Abu al-Fadl, though you be absent from the dark—

—ness of the eye, you are not absent from the heart’s dark core.

صارَ يوْمُ السّرورِ بعْدَكَ ليْلاً

ووَثيرُ المِهادِ شوْكَ القَتادِ

After you, a day of joy has become night for me,

and the soft bed, thorns of the qatād.

وكأنّ الجُفونَ إذ غِبْتَ عنْها

نَحَرَتْ دمْعَها لضَيْفِ السُّهادِ

It is as though the eyelids, once you were gone from them,

slaughtered their tears for their guest, sleeplessness.