1. قلَّ صبر الفؤاد وَالشوق غالب

    وَالضنى وحدهُ لذا الشوق غالب

    The heart's patience has dwindled, and longing prevails.

    Wasting sickness alone prevails over this longing.

  2. غالَبَ السُقُم منيَ الشوقَ حتىّ

    باتَ قَلبي مَيدانَ كلّمحارب

    Sickness struggled against longing within me until

    My heart became the battlefield of every combatant.

  3. جَيشا فيهِ كلَّ جَيشٍ نَشا مِن

    طاعنٍ بالقنا ورامٍ وضارب

    The two mustered there every army arising from

    Lancers with spears, archers, and fighters who strike.

  4. غلَب السقمُ بانحيازي اليهِ

    واِنثَنى الشوقُ انَّما غيرَ هارب

    Sickness prevailed when I took its side,

    And longing withdrew, though not in flight.

  5. لم اقل هارِباً ومَن لي بِهَذا

    فهو طيَّ الفؤاد ضربةٌ لازب

    I did not say it fled—who could grant me that?

    For it lies within the heart's folds, an inescapable blow.

  6. غير اني قسمتُ قَلبي فكان ال

    سقمُ في جانبٍ وَشَوقي بجانب

    Yet I divided my heart, so that

    Sickness lay on one side, my longing on the other.

  7. وقد انحزتُ للضنى ضدَّ شَوقي

    لا سلوّا لكن لكلٍّ مراتب

    I sided with wasting sickness against my longing,

    Not because love had faded, but because each has its rank.

  8. كلَّما حنَّ منيَ القَلبُ قال ال

    عقلُ مهلاً فانتَ لستَ بصاحب

    Whenever my heart yearned, thus spoke the

    Mind: 'Gently, for you are not the master.'

  9. كُلُّ ما لَم يكن من الصعب في الانفُسِ

    سهلٌ ان كان داني المصاعب

    Whatever is not difficult within the soul

    Is easy, even if it borders on hardship.

  10. وَعَسى اللَه أَن يصيَّر بي بل

    بكثيرين ذلك الظنَّ خائب

    And may God make, through me—nay,

    Through many—that supposition prove false.

  11. وإذا لم يكن فقد قام عذري

    انني قد عملتُ ما هوَ واجب

    And if not, then my excuse is established:

    I have done what is required.

  12. وَيَكون البعاد هَذا ابتداءَ

    لبعادٍ هَذا لهُ لا يُقارب

    And this separation will be the beginning

    Of a separation this one cannot rival.

  13. غير اني ارى لِلَيلى فجراً

    ربما كانَ صادقاً غير كاذب

    Yet I see a dawn for Layla,

    Perhaps a true dawn, not a false one.

  14. لَيسَ من عائقٍ لِهَذا ولا ذا

    فَبكلٍّ مع الخواطئِ صائب

    There is no obstacle to this or that,

    For in each, alongside errors, there is something right.

  15. وإذا كان ذا فما بالُ مَن في

    مثل هَذا يمسي وَيُصبح نادب

    And if so, why does someone in

    Such a state spend evening and morning lamenting?

  16. كَيفَ يُشفى مَن كلَّ حينٍ يَرى المَو

    تَ وغِربانُهُ عليهِ نواعب

    How can one be healed who at every moment sees death,

    And its ravens croaking over him?

  17. خاف من مَوتهِ فَماتمن الخَو

    ف كَثيرٌ فثِق وطاوع وناصب

    Those who feared their death and died of fear

    Are many; so trust, comply, and fight.

  18. ثِق بِبُرءِ وطاوع الطبَّ والدا

    ءَ وقاوم اعراضَه بالتجارب

    Trust in recovery; heed medicine and illness,

    And combat its symptoms through experiment.

  19. واتَّكل قبل كل ذاك على اللَه

    وثق انهُ لذا الخَلق راقب

    Before all this, put your trust in God,

    And trust that He watches over this creation.

  20. فاذا كنتَ بعد ذا حيثُ لا يُم

    كنُ بُرءٌ رجوتَ منهُ العجائب

    And if, after this, you are where no

    Recovery is possible, you will hope for wonders from Him.

  21. وَبِهَذا يَبقى رجآؤُكَ حيّا

    وهو بانٍ للجسم واليأسُ خارب

    And thus your hope remains alive,

    And it builds the body, while despair destroys it.

  22. نَحمد اللَه لِلَّذي قد حَبانا

    وَنرجيِّه انهُ خيرواهب

    We praise God for what He has bestowed on us,

    And hope in Him, for He is the best of givers.

  23. أَنصَتَ اللَه نحونا لم يجد صَو

    تاً فقد بَحَّ صَوتُنا في المطالب

    God listened to us, but heard no voice,

    For our voice had grown hoarse with petitions.

  24. واذا في أُذنَيهِ صَوتُ قُلوبٍ

    يَتَضرَّعنَ من خِلال الترائب

    And behold, in His ears was the sound of hearts

    Pleading through the breastbones.

  25. فَعَساهُ اِستجابَ وَالمرءُ بالحا

    ضر يَلهو جهلاً لما هو غائب

    Perhaps He has answered, while man is distracted

    By the present, ignorant of what is unseen.

  26. وَلِذا ربما تدارَك شرّا

    بسواهُ من البلاد وَالنوائب

    And so He may have averted an evil

    Through another of the afflictions and calamities.

  27. وَنظنُّ الَّذي نَراهُ خطآءً

    ثم يَبدو صوابهُ في العواقب

    And we think what we see is a mistake,

    Then its rightness becomes clear in the consequences.