باللهِ يا بدرَ السما هل درى

أخوكَ أني في غمارِ المنونْ

By God, O moon of heaven—does he know,

your brother, that I am engulfed by death?

يقتلني الشوقُ وهذا النَّوى

وذلكَ السحرُ وتلكَ العيون

Longing kills me, and so does this distance,

and that enchantment, and those eyes.

أحْسِبُني كسرى لتيهي بهِ

لو لم أكن أبطنتُ ما يعبدونْ

I count myself Khosrow, so proud am I of him—

were it not that I have hidden what they worship.

وما أرى الدنيا سوى دولتي

ومن فنونِ الحبِّ هذا الجنونْ

I see the world as nothing but my kingdom,

and this madness is one of love’s many arts.

يا بدرُ بلغهُ سلامي وقفْ

واشرحَ لهُ ما أحدثَ العاذلونْ

O moon, bear him my greetings; stand awhile,

and explain to him what the reproachers have wrought.

سبحانَ من صورهُ فتنةً

يعذبُ الناسَ ولا يغضبونْ

Glory be to Him who fashioned him as a temptation:

he torments the people, yet they do not grow angry.