1. Many a veiled gazelle in curtained howdah,
Her neck still slender and cheeks rouged,

2. Whose kohl-lined eyelids have not been renewed
By hands unskilled in eyeliners, I have vowed, ah!

3. My longing for her has not ceased, though time and torment interposed their threats,
Until the Fates allowed my wish and we could meet.

4. When obstacles lifted I stole a hurried glance
Revealing her first and last in hesitance.

5. Then she hid again behind the curtains of absence
And I got what I got which can't be told in tales.

6. She rose like the sun, then declined till a child
Could outshine her crescent, now fading, pale.

7. So I snatched a quick look ere she set for good,
At morning, though evening is often as fair.