لو حار مرتاد المنية لم يجد
Were the seeker of death to become perplexed, he would find no route.
إلا الفراق على النفوس دليلا
Except separation, which points a way to the souls.
In Abū Tammām’s image, murtād al-maniyyah seeks death, and firāq (separation) becomes the sign by which death reaches souls. The verse is not a literal account of a traveler and a guide; it imagines separation as a devastating force.
The construction “lam yajid ... illā” isolates separation as the one decisive indication.