1. A garden that loves no one but her
A temple in her morning and evening

2. Whenever it was time for prayer, she would attend
And be alone with God in her intimacy

3. A sign of beauty that God endowed her
With all grace when He created her

4. And chose her for His love and protected her
Among those distinguished by their asceticism and piety

5. And He chose for her a lover, and she saw
No protector from people destroyed by passion

6. She loved him though she cannot see him
But it's enough that her lover can see her

7. And she came once to whisper to him in the garden
And went early before dawn

8. She walked on the meadows without disturbing
The meadows with her steps

9. And knelt in the shade of a willow, speaking
Of her sorrows and weaving her life

10. The flowers around her like the eyes
Of startled does had blossomed watching her

11. And she bowed to pray with her eyes
To the Dweller of the Skies and its Creator

12. When a breeze through the branches like a thief
Came and kissed her mouth

13. A kiss followed by another that stirred
Her mind and ignited her passion

14. And Salma cried for help from her Jesus
Complaining of the breeze that seduced her

15. Beating her cheek, pounding her chest, while her Beloved
Was veiled from her, receding

16. The breeze returned, kissing
Her cheek, eyelid, and lips

17. And persisted, creeping like a snake
Beneath her clothes

18. So her heart was filled with grief at what
She felt, and she wept loudly

19. She neglected her prayer and fled
Like an angry gazelle seeking refuge

20. And told her parents of her complaint
Her mother laughed, and her father

21. A laugh at the heedless youth
Until they made her laugh, easing her torment

22. Then her mother explained the secret to her
Of how her youth had ripened

23. After that Salma kept attending her garden
With the breeze full of her consent

24. She permitted what was not prayer as prayer
And took what was not God as her god