إن ألَقَهُ سرَّهُ قُربي وآنسَهُ

إن ألَقَهُ سرَّهُ قُربي وآنسَهُ

وإن أغِبْ صَدّ عَنّي مُعرِضاً ولَهَا

وإن أغِبْ صَدّ عَنّي مُعرِضاً ولَهَا

If I meet him, my nearness delights him and puts him at ease;

If he confides his secret to me, drawing near,

And if I am absent, he turns away from me, aloof, and amuses himself.

And if he's absent, turning from me, distracted, forgetting,

كأَنّنِي مَيِّتٌ في النّوم يُبهجُهُ

كأَنّنِي مَيِّتٌ في النّوم يُبهجُهُ

لقاؤُهُ ثمَّ ينْسَاه إذا انْتَبهَا

لقاؤُهُ ثمَّ ينْسَاه إذا انْتَبهَا

As though I were a dead man in a dream: he is delighted

It's as though I'm dead, asleep, made joyous

To meet him, then forgets him when he wakes.

By his meeting me, then forgetting when he awakes