لَمّا جَفاني الحَبيبُ وَاِمتَنَعَت

عَنّي الرِسالاتُ مِنهُ وَالخَبَرُ

When my beloved shunned me, and withheld from me

His messages and every piece of news,

اِشتَدَّ شَوقي فَكادَ يَقتُلُني

ذِكرُ حَبيبي وَالهَمُّ وَالفِكَرُ

My longing grew intense until I was nearly slain

By the memory of my love, by anxiety, and by obsessive thought.

دَعَوتُ إِبليسَ ثُمَّ قُلتُ لَهُ

في خَلوَةٍ وَالدُموعُ تَنهَمِرُ

I summoned Iblis, and then spoke to him

In private seclusion, while my tears poured down:

أَما تَرى كَيفَ قَد بُليتَ وَقَد

أَقرَحَ جَفني البُكاءُ وَالسَهَرُ

"Do you not see how I have withered away, and how

Weeping and sleeplessness have wounded my eyelids?"

إِن أَنتَ لَم تُلقِ لي المَوَدَّةَ في

صَدرِ حَبيبي وَأَنتَ مُقتَدِرُ

"If you do not cast affection for me into

The heart of my beloved—for you are surely able—"

لا قُلتُ شِعراً وَلا سَمِعتُ غِناً

وَلا جَرى في مَفاصِلي السَكَرُ

"I shall recite no poetry, nor listen to song,

Nor shall intoxication ever run through my limbs."

وَلا أَزالُ القُرآنَ أَدرُسُهُ

أَروحُ في دَرسِهِ وَأَبتَكِرُ

"And I shall never cease studying the Quran,

Devoting my mornings and my evenings to its lessons."

وَأَلزَمُ الصَومَ وَالصَلاةَ وَلا

أَزالُ دَهري بِالخَيرِ آتَمِرُ

"I shall adhere strictly to fasting and prayer, and never

Cease, for all my days, to enjoin virtue."

فَما مَضَت بَعدَ ذاكَ ثالِثَةٌ

حَتّى أَتاني الحَبيبُ يَعتَذِرُ

Scarcely had a third day passed after that vow,

Before my beloved came to me, offering apologies.