1. Is this a tryst or parting?
The spear lies between embraces and farewells,

2. Fluttering between the wailing of a dove
And the tears of a weeping cloud.

3. The hands of time played at dawn
Placing neck upon neck.

4. They taught me the nature of loyalty, and would
Remind me of the stance of lovers.

5. An embrace, a kiss, the sweetness of a breath,
The throbbing of hearts and the flow of saliva.

6. If only the expanse of the valley’s belly responded
I would greet it listening to my yearning.

7. I would scatter my collected tears like pearls
And break the seal of patience from my bonds.

8. I would share the prime of my youth with the prime of youth
And patch what traits I had made.

9. So to you, soul of my youth, for long
Has your voice kindled the heat of passions within me.

10. In me is a pain that troubles my gaze -
Is there anyone to soothe or heal?

11. Travel quietly, do not rouse a heart inclined
To the wing of passion that fans it.

12. And if you pass by Cordoba then stop -
You’ve had your fill of people and horizons.

13. And kiss the hand of the son of virtues supreme
With gratitude, drawing him into a tight embrace.

14. Greet him with an open blossom of a call
That makes pure inhaling unnecessary.

15. Like the sun on a dewy morn, graced by shade
And beautifully radiant in its rising.

16. Shake from his cloak, for it has only
Sparkled like a cup in the right hand of a drinker.

17. Light sketches from the plain carpet’s expanse
And the clouds unfold from the wing of the porch.

18. Command the dove to reply with her singing
Beyond the faded words that echo.

19. Riding on a whiff within a breeze -
And you’ve had your fill of a cup there, overflowing.

20. Eloquence flowed from it, making diplomacy redundant,
For discourse over distances is reunion.

21. Dew forms on my liver from the smoothness of his words
Dispersing in a sea of doubt and harmony.

22. For there lies the most wondrous fullness of radiance
Awake, bound by the pact of covenant.

23. It sways with the swaying of the neck of a dove,
Bearing his adornment like necklaces do.

24. If his marginalia were to extend a cloud
It would be devoid of thunder and lightning.

25. Through it the merit of praise is ennobled, and perhaps
The most noble necks are honored by it.

26. The utmost apex - its palm has wiped
The heated face of an ardent frontrunner.

27. Adorned with the necklaces of the highest virtues,
For the highest virtues are themselves necklaces.

28. With it the spear of fame has lengthened
Belittling the tight belt of the waist.

29. It has not traced from the subtlety of beauty and splendor
Until drawing for it from the eyes’ dark pupils,

30. Tempting with purposes that awe with acumen,
And the gentle rustling of words that captivate souls.

31. Through it erstwhile peaks once gilded
Where for a time the wing of Buraq fluttered.

32. I swear if the crescent took its perfection from it
It would be complete without defect.

33. And enough of a branch for the line of eloquence
With harmonious fruits and leaves.

34. Innovating beauty so from one meaning
Refined, and from a tender spoken word.

35. Created from an impassioned mind, kindling
Flame, and a nature smoothly flowing.

36. If it were to be strictly refined, I would shake it
In the Frigid Water whose bubbles sound.