1. شوقي إليكَ كما علِمْتَ طويلُ

    ولَعلَّ صبري في هواكِ جميلُ

    My longing for you, as you know, is long.

    And perhaps my patience in loving you is noble.

  2. يا غائباً في القلبِ يحضُرُ شخصُهُ

    فكأنَّهُ لي منكَ عنكَ بديلُ

    O absent one whose form is present in my heart,

    as though it were, for me, a substitute from you in your stead.

  3. بَعُدَ المزارُ على ضعيفٍ قاصرٍ

    هذا الكتابُ إليكَ عنهُ وكيلُ

    The journey to visit you is too far for one weak and helpless;

    this letter to you serves as his proxy.

  4. إن كُنتَ تُنكِرُ لوعةً بفُؤادهِ

    فلهُ شُهودٌ من ضَناهُ عُدولُ

    If you deny the burning anguish in his heart,

    then he has trustworthy witnesses in his wasting sickness.

  5. حالت موامي الأرضِ دُونكَ بالنَّوَى

    ولطَالما دُونَ البُدورِ تَحُولُ

    The earth's wastelands have come between us, keeping you far away,

    and often have they barred the way to full moons.

  6. ورأيتُ شخصَكَ في البِعادِ فإنَّهُ

    قَمَرٌ نراهُ وما إليهِ وُصولُ

    And I saw your form from afar, for it is

    a moon we see, yet cannot reach.

  7. يا دُرَّةَ الغَوَّاصِ دُونَ لِقائها

    لُجَجٌ فَدَيتُكَ هل إليكَ سبيلُ

    O diver's pearl, before one can reach you lie

    deep waters! May I be your ransom—is there a way to you?

  8. نَترتْ صُروفُ الدهرِ عِقدَ نِظامنا

    فنَثَرتُ دمعي وهو فيكَ قليلُ

    Time's vicissitudes have torn apart the necklace of our union,

    so I scattered my tears, yet they are too few for you.

  9. شَطرُ الفُؤادِ حبيبُهُ فإذا نأي

    نُهِكَ الفُؤادُ فطُلَّ منه قتيلُ

    The heart's beloved is half of it; so when he goes afar,

    the heart is exhausted, and its slain half goes unavenged.

  10. طال انتِظاري والحَياةُ قصيرةٌ

    وكلاهُما سببٌ عليَّ ثَقيلُ

    My waiting has grown long, and life is short,

    and both are a burden weighing heavily upon me.

  11. ويلاهُ قد ضاعَ الزَمانُ فساقطٌ

    يومٌ يَمُرُّ ولا يَراكَ خليلُ

    Alas! Time has been lost; wasted is

    a day that passes without a dear friend seeing you.

  12. رُكنُ الحياةِ نعيمُها إن لم يكُنْ

    في العَيشِ طيبٌ فالحياةُ فضولُ

    The pillar of life is its delight; if there is no

    sweetness in living, then life is superfluous.

  13. بأبي المريضُ السالمُ الشَرَفِ الذي

    يَشتاقُ عَوْدَةَ مثلِهِ جبريلُ

    May my father ransom the sick man, unblemished in honor,

    whose like Gabriel longs to visit;

  14. مَن ليسَ يَرَغبُ في سلامةِ نفسهِ

    إن كانَ لم يَسلَمْ لديهِ جميلُ

    one who does not seek his own well-being

    if goodness is not safe in his keeping.

  15. يا ناحِلَ البَدَنِ العليلِ بلُطفِهِ

    لا صَحَّتِ الدُنيا وأنتَ عليلُ

    O you with the wasted body, delicately ailing,

    may the world not be well while you are ill!

  16. يا ليتَ عندي صِحَّةً تُفدَى بها

    لكن عليَّ منَ الفِراقِ نُحولُ

    Oh, would that I had health with which you could be ransomed,

    but separation has left me wasted.

  17. سَيَزُولُ سُقمٌ مثلَ عافيةٍ مَضَتْ

    إذ كلُّ ما تحتَ السماءِ يزُولُ

    Illness will pass away, like the health that has passed,

    for everything beneath the sky passes away.

  18. هذا الخُسوفُ عراكَ يا بدرَ الدُجَى

    ونَرَى خُسوفَ البدرِ ليس يطولُ

    This eclipse has befallen you, O full moon of the darkness,

    and we see that the full moon's eclipse does not last long.