And he likewise—may Allah pardon them both (1)—said:

A life (2) God granted me, spent at al-Thanayyāt,
with neighbors among whom my yearning tasted sweet.

How blissful were my days in their encampment,
while good fortune hurried to fulfil my desires.

The cup (3) brimmed with every kind of delight,
and, near the beloved, my felicities shone.

Whenever their beauty dawned upon my heart,
it was as though I basked in bliss amid blooming gardens.

I once lived close to them, with union firmly joined (4);
estrangement and abandonment never crossed my mind.

Today I awake in tears after their departure;
when they went far, my joys went farther still.

Since the moment their loveliness left my sight,
my comfort, my soul, my fragrance, my repose are gone.

No draught has tasted pure to me since they departed;
from the hour they turned away, the sweetness of my pleasures fled.

O masters who captured my heart by your gentleness,
what harm if you restored to me those moments past?

You are my desire, my request, my hope—
the furthest end of my quest and aim.

You are my joy, my hearing, my sight;
my bliss, my meadows, my gardens of delight.

You are my life, my solace, my honor,
and your remembrance is the constant polish of my heart (5).

When they rode off and my heart rode in their litters,
I cried, consumed by fire: “How immense is my anguish!”