1. O you who find fault with my love of one spoiled
By luxury's soft robes and beauty most rare,

2. You know not if some misfortune has struck me
So I returned in the guise of one in despair,

3. A moon - for his sake I rebelled 'gainst Allah
And obeyed our Sheikh Satan without care,

4. I broke my repentance solemnly sworn
And made lawful what once was forbidden ware,

5. He brandished his sword and the wine flashed suddenly
So I ransomed him from a mounted Emir,

6. He once believed in Christ and attended
At dawn the church bells' clamorous fanfare,

7. Long he bore the cross and revered the
Godhead with chanting of praise and prayer,

8. And came gently recounting the Gospels'
Ways 'tween deacons and priests without guile,

9. Like the moon, like a peacock except that
He surpassed them in beauty beyond compare,

10. And the slight curve of his form was as nothing
To the bow of his brow voicing disdain,

11. Gentle his smile, deadly his frown -
Sweetly he laughed, cruelly his lip would curl,

12. When he visited I attained all I desired
And when absent, remembrance of him was my companion and friend

13. And when he glanced with his slaying look, his victim
Cried while the tears down his cheeks unrestrained rolled,

14. Without you, O malady of glances, the roebuck
Would not be hunted by the despicable jackal vile!