1. The night passed while I stayed awake
Watching the stars parade by steadily, sleeplessly

2. My worries and pain kept me up
They lodged in my heart and it locked them inside

3. If only she felt for me what I feel for her
Our love would be shared and joyously matched

4. Nothing helps me but seeing her face
Can a thirsty man recover without a sip?

5. My heart was captivated by eyes that betrayed it
Grazing the meadow, her coy glance pierced me

6. Her mouth was cold, gentle, sweetly scented
As if perfumed with camphor, intoxicatingly veiled

7. Her soft cheeks unstartled by her curls’ caprice
Grazing the flowers, sipping their nectar, their bloom

8. Her chin like a tender sprout, its contour pure
Not bent, but gracefully formed without flaw

9. As though a radiant pearl retrieved by a diver
Who risked the depths, fearing she’d slip from his grasp

10. He’d sought her persistently since youth’s first drink
Until he trembled with want, hoping she was his

11. His soul cannot abandon her, though it despair
For his eye’s desire consumed him, set him ablaze

12. A fierce jinni guards her, poise ready to pounce
Let no one sneak up on her, he stays alert

13. Lest a secret lover creep near to steal her
He fiercely protects her from thieves in the night

14. If his soul obeyed him, he would hide with her
In dark valleys, though the flood engulfed them both

15. In harsh, arduous seas, their breakers so rough
Who dares reach for her loses his soul in their midst

16. He who attains her attains eternity’s reign
Fulfilled beyond measure, most refined in his luck

17. It is she whom your soul strove to behold
Though just glimpsed, burnt forever in that moment’s flash