1. O my night that grows stranger
With love of her whom I loved as a maiden

2. If a houri looked at you, she would give you to drink
As she gave you to drink wine with her eyes

3. And as if the return of her talk
Were clusters of blossoms plucked from gardens

4. And as if beneath her tongue
Harut were breathing magic into it

5. And you’d think what she had gathered on her
Of gold and perfume were only her raiment

6. And as if she were spring rain
With serenity, created just for you

7. A Jinniyah or human
Or something between, more wondrous still

8. And it’s enough that I know nothing
Of the plaint of her whom I loved

9. Except the words of a visitor
Who scattered sorrows broadcast for me

10. Humbly enslaved by passion
For ten years, and by death for ten

11. It makes the heedless forget their return
And gives the wise something to remember