1. A flock of maidens from the Banu 'Amir
Their necks and tears and lips all alike

2. The sound of their trailing robes as they walk
Their hips made heavy by their behinds, slender their waists

3. I say to her as night spreads its awning over us
And dawn has not yet lifted its edges

4. Though night has erased her face and torn it away
Poetry brings back its darkness

5. Take my life if you wish to kill me
For it is what remains after your love and abandonment