1. A quarter veiled by fate's decree aroused you,
Like a book's faint script to its keen peruser.

2. It became desolate after the companion and had not been
For solitude but when it clearly gave joy.

3. It changed from soft sand to a hill, and seldom
Does a hyrax or an oryx herd join it.

4. And if it is said to be fine with good peaks,
Where is its gentle beauty and pleasure for him?

5. We lived happily for a time, secure in delight,
Then time's caprice scattered us miserably.

6. A time when the heart answers the caller to youth
And sober reason is led by a drunk, sleepy eye.

7. The Turkish tents were not pitched in glory but rather
They pitched in the lion's den while the lion kept guard.

8. So no connection save from a glance thrown heedlessly,
Now openly, now furtively, to the secret beloved.

9. I planted my glance's rose in its gardens,
But its planter cannot pluck any of it.

10. Beautiful as if beauty deliberately chose him alone,
For he has no peer to rival him.

11. The sun reveals the radiance of his face,
And his movements conceal the rest of him.

12. The caravan journeyed on in its wanderings,
Becoming in the morning a sour, frowning visage.

13. The furthest horizon saw him until he seemed
A howl or specter, surveyed by a broken pillar.

14. A thread of love from him drew near, arousing
The melodious voice of the beloved softly murmuring to him.

15. So her valleys were deserted, and a lone, slovenly hyrax
Let out a cry, lethal to any who provoked it.

16. They lingered a time as brambles covered him
Until, no doubt, he became their horseman.

17. More deadly than him when he gazes longingly at the beloved
Whose consent means life, whose touch means death in her gown.

18. And a valley of neglected ignorance I traveled,
With the wings of the night's darkness spread over its pits.

19. A strange, uncanny wasteland, desolate in its regions,
Where even the crazed wanderer despairs, lost in its thoughts.

20. The oryx traversed it fearfully, for there was none
To accompany them, when the grim darkness wrapped them.

21. If the echo responded to their night song,
It was a faint echo from crumbling cliffs buried in gloom.

22. And a dried up spring amidst towering rocks
Softened by clouds that always attend to it.

23. Diminished by hot poisonous winds,
Then nourished again by rains pouring from the clouds.

24. The hunting grounds of calamity remain in shadow,
For there is no fresh game and its toucher has been banned.

25. They returned after their intelligence was aroused
By the throat of a youth - hot desert, its ardour arouses.

26. With a heart whose inner fire could almost
Ignite and burst into flames from its burning embers.

27. And a sea - its shores thickly covered with pearls -
Whose essence glows for us like orbiting suns.

28. And it has filled the open space of earth as though
Its ruler were aided by the angels of heaven.

29. When it storms over the land, its beasts cower
And its valleys and meadows become too narrow.

30. Subdued by it in the pursuit of enemies of religion,
Until the enemy of religion returned to the religion a bystander.

31. On a lofty, smooth steed as though matching it
Is lightning descending in bursts from the clouds.

32. A rebel whose tangled reins are like
Entangling adders until even its handler despairs.

33. A healing rain on peaceful, calm meadows
Where the fresh and dry vegetation are sustained.

34. Far from people's roads with no known trails,
Feared by lions, as their dens are vulnerable to it.

35. Playing with ostriches, swimming with jerboas,
A slayer by the spit of poison if it strikes down its chaser.

36. When it flows through the arid land it passes like
A blazing fire or a kindling set alight if touched.

37. So whatever wild creature encounters it,
One or the other shreds it, vying to rip it apart.

38. Thus many a slain ostrich and many a cloven jerboa,
No rescued hyrax nor rescued shriek left alive.

39. I came down with something in my palms like
Flashes of lightning, while the night grew dark around me.

40. And its father, the rain from the clouds, and its mother,
The daughter of generosity, left a throne whose planter prospers.

41. It stood in ranks and showed us its treasures,
Radiant in indigo and rose hues.

42. A heart receptive to all kinds of joys wherein
A man's soul and pleasures are lightly regarded.

43. And it captivates the mind with daring and attains heights,
Feared when it is roused and overpowers gatherings.

44. I avoided it for a time and it wreaked havoc on my vows,
Showing me as a king, like Khosrow, with horses and maidens.

45. And a garden of bliss, its maidens' singing
A gentle breeze from the north, awakening its blossoms.

46. Over which the sun rises, its rays
Falling upon it, revealing it and its fair maidens.

47. One day I would flirt with a necklace
Of Turkish pearls beyond price in their value.

48. Another day I would sip golden coffee
With a trusted sister, light and sweetened.

49. Another day I would listen to the music
Of a delicate instrument, its soft strings so melodious.

50. Another day I would wander through its flowers,
Gazing at a wondrous creation, unique in its qualities.

51. Some red amid greens along with yellow,
White next to black - synchronized hues.

52. One day I would amuse myself with a coat of mail
That had claws, canines, and a defiant glance.

53. Brandishing the dust of desolation - where was its home? -
Its singing distracted it from the eyes' glances.

54. So many a slain camel and cloven jerboa saw it,
No frightened hare or hopeless groan left alive.

55. When we unleashed it, I sent a follower
After it - plump cheeked, unkempt, intent on the prey.

56. It flew high then spied prey below,
My hunting falcon competing with it.

57. It charged and plunged, clawing its face,
Wings, the coat of mail, wrestling with it.

58. They did not stop until the two perished,
Watering an oryx herd that was close with their blood.

59. O excellent were the day, the next, the third,
The fourth day, and the fifth day that followed.

60. I would spend my days in bliss and pleasure,
With the sixth succeeding the fifth in joy.

61. A monastery secluded in a desolate valley,
Shown only to wanderers by the tolling bells.

62. It contained beauties from the Greek ladies
And their boys, overcrowding its churches.

63. Beauty contemplated where to settle,
On its maidens or choirboys.

64. I arrived and the one who washed clothes busily
Saw a youth’s thigh - no shame in revealing it.

65. He leaned forward slightly then sprang up eagerly,
But an arrow diverted him from his aim and stopped him.

66. I injured him slightly then soundly,
His limbs severed and his crosses shattered.

67. I was in view of the monks so their superior
Took liberties, kissing and fondling my palms.

68. I saved them from an oppressor whose habit
Was injustice when darkness wrapped his clothes.

69. And an ignorant charlatan in tattered, oddball clothes,
Frequenting horizons, his travels great.

70. Versed in numerology, alchemy, talismans,
Astrology, drawing circles, and divination with sand.

71. Conjuring spirits and jinn whispering to him,
Misrepresenting water and digging for treasures.

72. Casting stones and poisons - his sneezes potent -
Interpreting dreams, hearing voices, supposed miracles,

73. Claiming occult powers to deceive people’s minds,
While the shaykh plays deaf to his guiles.

74. He saw me silent, taciturn, so thought me
Susceptible to delusions - among their prey.

75. The poor man did not know that I am the one
Who read letters beyond the reach of any writer.

76. And taught sciences until their circles
Flourished through me, with my instruction spreading.

77. And compiled many pages in the sciences
That frustrate one who would enumerate them.

78. And composed poetry on oceans of knowledge -
My seas have drowned all who plunged in their depths.

79. And plunged into its oceans, escaping poverty,
With my mind the diver retrieving its pearls.

80. When heard by the envious, he appears
Scowling, eyes downcast, nose tipped down.

81. I frequented circles of knowledge none had accessed,
I am its horseman, none can ride with me.

82. When I speak, its people fall silent to reflect on
Subtleties that exhaust those who join me.

83. The acuity of my knowledge brought me glory,
While others in it are forgotten, diminished.

84. My fame encompassed the world until I seemed
A proverb that flourished - its houses and lands prospered.

85. As though I were a sun whose light
Illuminated the whole world and its inhabitants.

86. Let anyone who wishes to censure my life,
I am its piercing sword - sheathed when its censor dies.