مَرِضْتُ فَمَا أَوْشَكْتُ لَوْلاَكَ أَنْ أَرى

بَقَاءً جَدِيراً فَقْدُهُ بِالتَّأسُّفِ

I fell ill, and but for you I would scarcely have seen

any continued life whose loss deserved regret.

فَهَلاَّ وَهَذَا أَنَّت مِنِّي وَحَاجَتِي

لِقَاؤُكَ أَسْتَشْفي بِهِ كُنْتَ مُسْعِفِي

Why not—when this is what you are to me, and my need

is to meet you and seek healing thereby—would you not be my aid?

أَيَشْمَتُ فِينَا عَاذَلُونَ يَسُرُّهُمْ

تَفَرُّقُ هَذَا الشَّملِ بَعْدَ التَّأَلُّفِ

Shall reproachers gloat over us—those who delight

in the scattering of this union after harmony?

بِرَبِّك إِنْ تَمْرَرْ بِجَانِبِ مَنْزِلٍ

مُفَدِّيكِ فِيهِ عِجْ بِهِ وَتَلَطَّفِ

By your Lord, if you pass beside a dwelling

where one who would ransom you dwells, turn aside and stop there graciously.

وَغَيْرُ كَثِيرٍ زَوْرَةً أَنْ تَزُورَهَا

لِحَوْلٍ وَلَوْ جَاءَتْ بِبَعْضِ التَّكلُّفِ

It would hardly be visiting too often, were you to visit it

after a year—even if the visit required some effort.