1. I'm not one on a Ramadan night
Whose length ever competed with this night's

2. When I slipped away from my friends and entered my room
I looked in the Diwan of a poet or the Sirat of a biography

3. But nothing attracted me except the sound of the cat on the prowl
So I started to listen in the rooms and bedrooms

4. Until I found the one who had snuck up on me
Since she appeared before me and our gazes met

5. The ashes of her eyes returned like embers
And she let out her meows like a tomcat in wasteland

6. And from behind the curtain she wore for me the skin of a leopard
She turned away but like a still rock she fled

7. Her whiskers shook like the eye of a needle
And she raised a paw and waved her tail like a snake

8. Then she leapt from the roof and howled and fled
I didn't blame her for anger and wickedness

9. Nor underestimate her weakness or forget my ability
I saw nothing but a mother caring for her children

10. I saw what captures the soul of a poet in imagery
I saw the essence of motherhood in building a family

11. So I stayed until her trembling calmed and she settled
I brought her a drink and a morsel

12. And I protected the sides of her bedding with my cloak
And I increased her warmth so I kindled my embers

13. Had I found game I'd have brought her a mouse
So she lay under the shade of safety and stretched out

14. And she recited her devotions though she knew not what she uttered
While the little ones suckled at her teats and she gently turned

15. Like chicks protected in the folds of her gown
They bumped into each other blindly around the meal

16. You'd think them frogs she'd sent hopping in a jar
And I said, no harm upon your child, my little neighbor

17. Deliver five or ten if you wish
You and your children will be protected in my vigil until they grow up