1. Her cheek is as soft as the morning dew on rose petals,
And the radiance of generosity beams from her pearl necklace,

2. Foam on the pale chest of the gazelle, as if it were
Fragments of camphor amidst sweet smelling ambergris.

3. I imagined her lying intoxicated, with
The froth from the wine filling her mouth.

4. The flash of her teeth wounded me, so I was arrayed
In armor to ward off the blow of those white pearls.

5. A red cut glass decanter whose stopper
Was pressed down upon it like a veil drawn over beauty.

6. When the jug clinks against the wine glass, sparks fly
As fire leaps out when the flint stone is struck.

7. The decanter glows like lightning, and the wine beneath it
Is a cloud, and the jug rumbles like thunder,

8. Sheathed in a glass scabbard worked by the hands
Of Benan, fit for a sharpened blade, faultless and Indian.

9. We draw it out, cleansed of the blood of the past,
And vengeance no longer drips from it.

10. When pure wine flows in it and it flashes
Like the blade of the polished sword.

11. We carry it to our companions as if
It had outgrown its scabbard and longed for its sheath.

12. It slices open the dark night for us, blazing
As the bereaved man rends his mourning clothes.

13. A gazelle fleeing the clutches of the raging lion
When the wine is poured.

14. The morning breeze slackened beneath its chill,
And we shuddered intoxicated by the cool wind.

15. It brought forth sparks from the glowing embers
And dew drops rose from the limpid water,

16. While the perfume of the cheek lingered like the musk scent of the doe’s fur
When the necklace is pulled away from the black mole.

17. My heart was inflamed with the fire of his love,
So that which I revealed was like that which I concealed.

18. He continued to give drink to every dear brother
With the finest and sweetest wine and affection.

19. He who deserves favor is never denied it,
As the lost are never barred from the path of right guidance.

20. When hands lose their grip, hold fast
To the rope that leads to the Divine.

21. I wonder that you are not consumed by the spark
That blazed from the kindling of your thoughts.

22. And by tongues, if you spoke, they would freeze,
Immobilized by the ice in your verse.

23. Happy is the man who has a friend like me, who sees
That friendship’s affection is greater wealth than riches.

24. When I do not find endurance in a friend
To bear my burden, I find it in myself to bear him.