لقد كنت من أمر الهوى أتستر

وعرفني والحال منيَ منكر

Indeed, I used to keep the affair of love concealed;

Yet it recognized me, though my state was unrecognizable;

وصرت انادي والحشا يتفطر

ايا معشر العشاق بالله اخبروا

And I began to cry out, my innards splitting apart:

O company of lovers, by God, tell me:

إذا اشتد عشق بالفتى كيف يصنع

فقالوا مقالا لست اجهل قدره

When passion grows fierce in a young man, how should he act?

Then they spoke words whose worth I know well:

اذا ما اراد الصب يملك امره

ويبلغ ما يهوى ويحكم دهره

When the lovelorn man wishes to control his affairs

And attain what he desires and master his days,

يداري هواه ثم يكتم سره

ويصبر في كل الامور ويخضع

He must handle his passion gently, then conceal his secret,

And be patient in every matter, and submit.

فقلت لهم والقلب مني تنتنا

مقالة صب بالصواب لقد اتى

So I said to them, my heart [unclear in the source],

The words of a lovelorn man who has indeed spoken rightly:

فحتى هواه ما يداري الى متى

وكيف يداري والهوى قاتل الفتى

Yet even his passion he does not soothe—until when?

And how can he soothe it, when love is the young man's killer,

وفي كل يوم قلبه يتقطع

فقلت قد بالغت في وصف عذره

And every day his heart is torn apart?

So I said: You have gone far in describing his excuse.

يسر هواه لا يفوه بذكره

ويصبر اولى في الغرام لامره

He conceals his passion and does not speak of it,

And patience is better for his situation in ardent love;

وان لم يجد صبرا لكتمان سره

فليس له شيء سوى الموت انفع

And if he finds no patience to conceal his secret,

Then nothing is more beneficial to him than death.

فقالوا وسمعي للجواب مفرغ

مقالا من الدر المنظم ابلغ

Then they spoke, while my hearing was devoted to the answer,

Words more eloquent than pearls strung together:

فمن ذا الذي عما ذكرتم يروغ

سمعنا اطعنا ثم متنا فبلغوا

So who is it who evades what you have mentioned?

We heard, we obeyed, then we died—so convey

سلامي على من كان للوصل يمنع

My greeting to the one who used to withhold union.