1. أَقولُ لِمُفتٍ ذاتَ يَومٍ لَقيتُهُ

    بِمَكَّةَ وَالأَنضاءُ مُلقىً رِحالُها

    I say to a jurist whom I met one day

    In Mecca, while the weary mounts’ saddles lay set down:

  2. بِرَبِّكَ أَخبِرني أَلَم تَأثَمِ الَّتي

    أَضَرَّ بِجِسمي مِن زَمانٍ خَيالُها

    “By your Lord, tell me: has she not sinned—the one

    Whose phantom has long afflicted my body?”

  3. فَقالَ بَلى وَاللَهِ سَوفَ يَمَسُّها

    عَذابٌ وَبَلوى في الحَياةِ تَنالُها

    He said, “Yes, by God, she will be touched

    By torment, and affliction will befall her in life.”

  4. فَقُلتُ وَلَم أَملِك سَوابِقَ عَبرَةٍ

    سَريعٍ إِلى جَيبِ القَميصِ اِنهِمالُها

    So I said, unable to hold back the first tears,

    Streaming swiftly into the opening of my shirt:

  5. عَفا اللَهُ عَنها ذَنبَها وَأَقالَها

    وَإِن كانَ في الدُنيا قَليلاً نَوالُها

    “May God pardon her sin and absolve her,

    Even if her favors in this world were few.”