1. The doves think
That I repeat their cooing,

2. The symbol of safety and affection
Since the beginning of creation.

3. In every garden above the vines
Laden with fruit, for them is their place,

4. And they fill the branches that
The breeze has not stirred in the garden.

5. When the hot wind blows they flutter
Towards their pond,

6. They descend after the heat like
Revelation whose meaning none can grasp.

7. When they alight on the pond their flocks
Arrange themselves,

8. Lining the two banks winding
With their standing.

9. Each kisses its reflection
In the water at drinking time,

10. Quenching the heat of their bodies
By dipping their breasts in it.

11. Spray springs when they shake themselves
As pearls on their heads,

12. And they fly after bathing
Back to their nests.

13. Wings lined up tell you
How happy they are,

14. And their play delights you
When they squat on their feathers.

15. You imagine them headless
When night swallows them,

16. Hiding under the wings, sleeping
With eyes filled.

17. How often their cooing teased me,
And I envied them their gowns!

18. The beneficent to the sick
Are like them at dawn.

19. The garden is like a hospital
Whose medicine is their cheer.

20. Electricity and its techniques
Are less potent than their glances.

21. Their sympathy and kindness cure
More effectively than medicine,

22. Though it be bitter, a sweetness
From the charm of their speech.

23. But let me distinguish
Between doves and them -

24. Sometimes the doves may cease
Their singing in the darkness.

25. As for a beauty's kindness,
It is there night and day.