وَلَمَّا أَتَانا والدَّيَارُ بَعيِدَةٌ

كتَابٌ بِأَنْفَاسِ الوَدادِ تَضَوعا

When it reached me, though home was far,

A letter with the breath of love sighing,

أَرَقُّ مِنَ السلْسَالِ لُطْفاً كَأَنَمَّا

تَأَلَّفَ مِنْ روح الصَّبَا وَتَجَّمعا

More gentle than a chain it was, as though

It was made of the soul of youth assembling.

شَفَى غُلَّةَ الصَّادي وَسَكَّنَ لَوْعَةً

تَكَادُ لَهَا الأَكْبَادُ أنْ تَتَصَدَّعا

It healed the burning of my torment, stilled the anguish,

Nearly making my liver split asunder.

تَنَافَسَ فيهِ نَاظرٌ وأَنَامِلُ

وَأَخْفَيْنَ عَمّا فِيْهِ لُبّاً وَمَسْمَعا

In it vied a beholder and fingers,

And a prudent heart and hearing concealed.

فَقَبَّلْتُهُ ألْفَاً وَألْفَاً كَرَامَةً

وَلْمَ أَرضَ إِجْلالاً لَهُ الرَّأسَ مَوْضِعا

I kissed it a thousand thousand times with deference,

And did not deem it right to put my head on it.

وَنِلْتُ مِنَ الأيّامِ مَا كُنْتُ راجيِاً

وُقُلْتُ لِدَهْري: كيفَ ما شِئتَ فَاصنْعَا

And I got from the days what I had hoped for,

And said to my fate: “However you wish, so proceed!”