1. أيّامَنا بالحِمى ما كانَ أحْلاكِ

    كم بِتُّ أرعاهُ إجْلالاً وأرْعاكِ

    O our days in the protected pasture, how sweet you were!

    How often I spent the night watching over it in reverence, and watching over you!

  2. لا تُنْكِري وَقْفَتِي ذُلّاً بِمَغْناكِ

    يا دارُ لولا أحِبّائي ولولاكِ

    Do not scorn my standing humbly at your abode,

    O dwelling, were it not for my loved ones and for you,

  3. لَما وَقَفْتُ وُقوفَ الهائِمِ الباكِي

    أحبابَ أنْفُسِنا كَمْ ذا النَّوى وكَمِ

    I would not have stood like a lovesick, weeping wanderer.

    O beloveds of our souls, how long this separation—and how long!

  4. ويا مَعاهِدَ نَجْوانا بِذِي سَلَمِ

    تاللهِ ماشُبْتُ دَمْعي للأسى بِدَمِ

    And O haunts of our whispered converse at Dhu Salam,

    By God, I did not mingle my tears with blood out of grief,

  5. ولا لَثَمْتُ تُرابَ الأرْضِ مِنْ كَرَمِ

    إلا مُراعاةَ خِلٍّ باتَ يَرْعاكِ

    Nor did I kiss the earth's dust out of generosity,

    Except out of regard for a dear friend who spent the night watching over you.

  6. هَلْ مِنْهُمُ ليَ عَطْفٌ بَعْدَ دَلِّهِمُ

    آهاً لِقَلْبي عَلى تَبْدِيْدِ شَملِهِمُ

    Is there any tenderness for me from them after their coyness?

    Alas for my heart at the scattering of their company!

  7. تاللهِ ما تسمحُ الدُّنيا بِمِثْلِهِمُ

    ما كانَ أحْلاكِ يا أيَّامَ وَصْلِهِمُ

    By God, the world does not bestow their like.

    How sweet you were, O days of union with them!

  8. ويالَيالي الرِّضا ما كانَ أضْواكِ

    يا بدرَ تِمٍّ تَجافَتْ عَنْهُ أرْبُعُنا

    And O nights of contentment, how bright you were!

    O full moon, from whom our dwellings have grown distant,

  9. وَلم يَزَلْ تَحْتَوِيهِ الدَّهْرَ أضْلُعُنا

    ما لِلنَّوى بضُروبِ الوَجْدِ تُوجِعُنا

    Yet our ribs have never ceased to enfold him through all time.

    Why does separation torment us with longing in its many forms?

  10. إذا ذَكَرْتُ زَماناً كانَ يَجْمَعُنا

    تَفَطَّرتْ كَبدِي شَوْقاً لِمَرآكِ

    When I remember a time that used to bring us together,

    My liver splits apart with longing for the sight of you.

  11. لعلَّ رَوْحَ الرِّضا يَدْنُو بِهِمْ وعَسى

    فَيُثْبِتُ القُرْبُ ما بالبُعْدِ قدْ دَرَسا

    Perhaps the breeze of contentment will bring them near—and may it be so!

    Then nearness will reestablish what distance has effaced.

  12. كَمْ ذا أُنادِي وأشْدوا الأرْبُعَ الدُّرُسا

    ياقَلبِيَ الصَّبَّ أيْنَ الصَّبْرُ عادَ أسى

    How long shall I keep calling and singing to the ruined dwellings:

    O my lovesick heart, where is patience? It has turned to sorrow.

  13. ويا منازلَ سَلْمى أيْنَ سَلْماكِ

    And O dwellings of Salma, where is your Salma?