1. I heard the wailing of mourners one evening,
Stirring sorrow in the neighborhood,

2. Girls crying in the wings of darkness,
For weeping over youth is bitter.

3. She frowned and tossed confused,
Like a gazelle certain it is captive,

4. And a mute tear wavered in her eyelids,
Speechless, aimless, unable to flow.

5. It was as if she were a hero surrounded by foes,
With their swords, while his sword is broken.

6. Everything fell silent as night descended,
Light and shadows and the dark.

7. The whole universe distraught at her distraughtness,
As if the earth itself had ceased to spin.

8. Nothing around or ahead of us
Seemed beautiful, for all beauty was much.

9. The stream fell silent as if embracing the ground,
The breeze quiet as if terrified.

10. The glowing heavens became a patchwork,
The shining stars within it graves.

11. She used to joke with me and laugh – but that time has passed,
Her laughter now deep thought.

12. She said – and her smile was stripped away by sorrow –
“He who said life is an illusion told the truth.”

13.
Can we thus die, our dreams destroyed,

14. And in an instant turn to dust?
With earthworms writhing in a corpse

15. Once filled with wishes that came and went?
Better than us are those never born,

16. And people like statues of rock.
Eyes with kohl, tempting glances,

17. Lips with cosmetics, the plucked and depilated.
Hearts that flutter like moths

18. Are reeds making music in the winds.
She fell silent and I felt, after her talk,

19. That existence itself was disturbed and severed.
Summer breathes its heat around us

20. And I feel as though I am scorched.
Doubts crept into my heart, poisoning

21. My night – for doubts bring no joy.
I feared passion might, with suspicion,

22. Become like art – no scent in its flowers.
Like the example’s beauty – eyes fill, but there is

23. No feeling. So I told her: let our bodies
Be for earthworms, bodies are but shells.

24. Do not grieve, for death does not hurt us.
We have an afterlife and resurrection.

25. We will remain when this visible world fades,
This realm that passes away.

26. For love is eternal light, renewed,
That only wanes to shine brighter.

27. The dreams and visions of love’s children
Are not eyes, pillows, breasts.

28. When earth covers its flowers and we leave darkness,
You will return fragrant as jasmine,

29. And I a nightingale enchanted in its branches,
Singing as I alight and take flight.

30. Or a brook, rippling, murmuring,
With me as its chuckling, babbling wave.

31. Or a butterfly flitting by,
My dawn woven in its wings.

32. A breeze – my whispering and rustling –
Circling the meadows without end.

33. I visit the buds in the morn with dew,
And when they open, my scent is their scent.

34. We meet in resignation by the stream,
Contentment, willow, and sparrow.

35. They share its stillness and shaded shelter,
Its water to quench their thirst.

36. Two miracles – emerald, turquoise –
One sleeping, the other flowing clear.

37. No dawn comes between, no dusk,
Each enveloped completely in light.

38. Days pass by, fresh and verdant,
Green leaves and blossoming fruit.

39. So time gives them its all –
Pleasure and joy forevermore.

40. She smiled, liking my imagery and painting.
I cured her with fantasy – now she is serene.

41. How often medicine alleviates pain!
Then we parted, laughing until tomorrow,

42. With shooting stars murmuring above us.
She seemed a traveler returned after hardship,

43. While I was like a victorious leader.
But when I retired to my bed,

44. The mattress felt rough and hard.
My lamp had dimmed and flickered out,

45. Its breath extinguished, dead.
I turned my eyes to a book but could only

46. Discern blurred lines as if in a sketch.
I drank old wine, hoping to relax –

47. But hopes and predictions were shattered.

48. I was like a ship whose anchors gave way,
The sea swelling and crashing around it.

49. Grief had seized my heart and lulled my eyes –
Both bereft and severed.

50. Doubts, like eagles descended upon my soul,
And it was as if they were prey and the doubts predators.

51. I resorted to hope but it failed me;
As for imagination, it was defeated and exiled.

52. O night! Where is light? I am lost –
Is there no ray from you I can follow?

53. Can we thus die, our dreams destroyed,
And in an instant turn to dust?

54. Better than us are those never born,
And people like statues of rock.