1. يا دهر مهلاً كم تجور وتعتدي

    ولكم بأحبابي تروح وتغتدي

    O Time, be gentle—how often you oppress and transgress!

    And how often you carry off my loved ones, at evening and dawn!

  2. ما آن أن ترثي لطول تشتتي

    وترق يا من قلبه كالجلمد

    Has the time not come to pity my long separation,

    And soften, O you whose heart is like solid rock?

  3. فقد اشتفى قلب العدو بما رأى

    من غربتي وصبابتي وتوجدي

    For the enemy's heart has found satisfaction in what it saw

    Of my exile, my longing, and my anguish.

  4. شوق أكابده وحزن متلف

    فوقعت في وجدٍ مقيمٍ مقعد

    Longing I struggle to bear, and consuming sorrow—

    So I fell into abiding, crippling anguish.

  5. هل من صديقٍ ذي ودادٍ صادقٍ

    يرثي لأسقامي وطول تسهدي

    Is there a friend of sincere affection

    Who would pity my ailments and my long sleeplessness,

  6. أشكو إليه ما أكابده أسى

    والطرف مني ساهرٌ لم يرقد

    To whom I could lament the sorrow I endure,

    While my eye stays wakeful and has not slept?

  7. ومدامتي دمعي وحزني مطربٌ

    والفكر تقلي والهموم تُمهدي

    And my wine is my tears, and my sorrow a singer;

    And thought is my relish, and worries make my bed.