1. You think separation stirs up affection,
Yet aloofness of faces is no proof.

2. Though they shun me and turn away,
Their abodes, cheeks and embraces still allure.

3. I wish their camels were created docile,
And the litters submissive to their will.

4. As though the doves had stretched their boughs,
To reach them while the cups pass round.

5. They are like wine - the more matured,
The more it clouds the drinkers' minds.

6. Quench your thirst, O people of happy fate,
While anguish for your father's son is my bane.

7. To rain clouds why should I look for water,
When a neighbor cuts me short and proves inhospitable?

8. Do people promise me beloved ones will return
When we have naught left but dreams of reunion?

9. They say, "An eye's aversion in a flock is a raid
On it, when desires of souls are rapacious wolves."

10. So do not threaten shedding blood to pasture us,
For every fallen man dies craving his darling.

11. My heart refused but to love her haunts,
Where swords were unsheathed and spears made bare.

12. The jealous one obstructed the paths between us,
So naught remains for us but phantoms as messengers.

13. Would that a star had lost its way,
And the duration of gloom were prolonged twixt horizons,

14. As my night of desolation stretched,
And the dawn found no way to penetrate its darkness,

15. While the Pleiades lay scattered about,
Coiled up like a sick man writhing in bed.

16. Craving to stroke her hand, were it stripped of its skin,
And cleave to her arms as she walked.

17. Who will grant me a treasurer with the skill
To give as she gave and make me writhe?

18. I do not seek but a string of ninety courtesans,
Equal in stature and in height when standing.

19. Damsels created in the mold of love,
Each to each a counterpart in figure and tallness.

20. Scrolls - if we wished we would say steel blades -
That flash when drawn from their embellished scabbards.

21. When their glances fall on you, a dazzling light
Repels the eyes though weakened by its beam.

22. If their teeth flash laughter, there rings out
A melody in the rapture of their play.

23. Before the like the jealous flings off his gown,
And raises her bride-price, dragging out payment.

24. But we proposed to pliant charmers in wooing,
And lengthy trains trailed behind them.

25. I quaff deep draughts from a goblet of fermented juice,
Meeting our needs among the farthest tribes.