1. وآنسة قد فرَّق الدهر بيننا

    فلله قلبي ما أحنّ وما أحنى

    And a maiden—time has parted us.

    So, to God belongs my heart—how yearning, how bowed!

  2. إلى حاجبيها صارَ قلبي صبابة

    وقلبيَ منها قاب قوسين أو أدنى

    In longing, my heart turned toward her eyebrows.

    And my heart is two bow-lengths from her, or nearer.

  3. وأكَّد طول النأي والعسر حيرتي

    بتسع شهورٍ قد خلت كلّها حزنا

    And prolonged separation and hardship deepened my bewilderment

    through nine months that have passed, all in sorrow.

  4. فهل لي إلى الباب العلائي قصة

    تملك لفظِي أو يدَي أملي وزنا

    Have I, then, a petition to the ʿAlāʾī gate

    that grants my words, or my hope's two hands, weight

  5. من النظم لولا وجود معنٍ رأيته

    هنالك ما لاقيتُ لفظاً ولا معنى

    of verse? Were it not for the presence of Maʿn, whom I saw

    there, I would have found neither word nor meaning.

  6. وآنست ما قد قالَ غيريَ شاكياً

    ومثليَ من غنى ومثلك من أغنى

    And I recognized what another had said in complaint:

    And one like me sings, and one like you enriches.

  7. وذو صنعةٍ فاسْتخدموني لصنعتي

    برزقي وإلا فارزقوني مع الزمنى

    And I possess a craft—so employ me for my craft,

    for my livelihood; otherwise, provide for me along with the infirm.