Abdulla left home in a holy throng.
All who leave return - but these forgot.
Muhammad Safa also went along.
Well-wishers waved, returned : the pilgrims not.

Most children sleep close by their father's bed.
o Lord, have they been seen by close kindred?
The moon has waxed and waned as years have fled.
Months and years return : the pilgrims not.

Those who taste poison may quite soon get well.
Shepherds get paid and then go home to dwell.
People who go on Hajj a six months' spell
Return Hajis at last: the pilgrims not.

Say, those who caravanserai have made,
Have any heard why Abdul was delayed?
Why, those who went to India to trade,
Even they came back: the pilgrims not.

The rain came pouring down, a thing distraught.
Wayfarers were destroyed with homes they sought
While in the road a girl stood over-wrought
To see the pilgrims come: but they did not.

Does not the heart of him who falls soon rise?
Who leaves returns; who laughs has weeping eyes.
Could passers-by not answer your surmise?
Unknowns have all returned : the pilgrims not.

Now sleep fails Makhtumkuli1 pained and vexed,
Not knowing where to seek his old friends next.
The earth itself seems equally perplexed.
All ask Where are they? Answer pilgrims not.