1. He reproaches her, and his heart complains,
So she teases him until he bows submissively.

2. She recites to him a verse from the chapter of passion,
With which he returns, blinded, needy, and fervent.

3. But the passions of the heart are lethal,
Unless instilled with pure reason to guide them.

4. Yet time has passed and its beacons are extinguished;
So he wandered, exasperated, and became estranged.

5. Each day a moment of heedlessness and vigilance
For a bee, fervor, and one who has lost her way;

6. Upon that heart which harbored sorrow,
And that fervor which obscured the horizon.

7. She loved him with all her heart in the garden of youth;
Beautiful, with a languid glance, and a hunter.

8. She did not consult abstention, for her rule
Would restore to her the face of love, gloomy.

9. A youth like the fresh basil of heaven
Who rises before her like a full moon.

10. His eyes sparkle with intelligence as if
Her love had passed through them as a blaze.

11. She descended from his heart to a position
Where her cheek slumbers flushed upon it.

12. And he showed a great love in standing
Before her, alive and infirm, enduring.

13. When her glances fell on him, they sighed,
And when his glances fell on her, they sighed.

14. She loves refinement in a youth - an attribute of life,
And she turns from an impudent one, rebellious.

15. Sulaym and Sulayman - a secret symbol
Named two hearts united in the spirit of love.

16. The daughter of the caravan leader loved him
And he did not contend with her in glory, rank or zeal.

17. He has nothing in life but his youth,
A mind he sees steering matters straight.

18. And Sulayma is a girl who resembles the rising sun;
For her a cheek like a rose garlanded by dew.

19. And two eyes whose glance sparkles
Like two stars in a sky flashing emerald.

20. And a neck as if dawn split its column
And adorned it with the bright star and necklaces.

21. And hair like the strands of a crown, decorating her head,
So if she lets it down it flows like silk, curled.

22. And a figure like a delicate basil branch -
If the breeze stirs it, it inclines gently.

23. She walks as if the ground never touches her feet -
She has the steps of a gazelle, graceful.

24. She laughs with the laughter of purity, as
Birds converse in thickets and chirp.

25. And she smiles with a string of handsome pearls
With a face it adorns, radiant and dimpled.

26. So he loves her in his morn and eve,
And in his past yesterday - and loves her tomorrow.

27. He worships her in manners and she is his idol
Whom he aspires to please and worship.

28. He strives to please her by elevating his status
If he attains eminence and leadership in the world.

29. If he falls short of her in life, she
Establishes for him a bond of love by which to ascend.

30. She promised him he would be her husband
And she was not one whose promise goes unkept.

31. She has a father whose mind is not matured
So he never changed from his old nature, constrained.

32. He sees the tyranny of forefathers as truth, supported -
Sanctioning power over children as a right, upheld.

33. He does not understand the modern world, for he sees
Its people's morals corrupted and depraved.

34. Can one who is blind see the light when its rays shine?
He saw only darkness where light appeared.

35. He is ignorant that this blindness is in his own eyes,
And that the new exceeds the old in perfection, henceforth.

36. Many like her father tightly constrain
Progress, though ideas multiply and abound.

37. Some customs fade while others arise,
As some prosper while others decline.

38. The worth of this life is a day and a night,
And happiness lies only in what smiles with fortune.

39. Light is only what the eye sees pure,
And night only what the eye sees obscured.

40. Some people did not fear inflicting misery
On others, bound by an old belief, embedded.

41. Yes, marry her to an ignorant man, but one
Whose blessed wealth flowed as did his birth.

42. A lout in life's dealings, reckless in character,
Wearing the garb of dishonor, debauched.

43. He spends most days in taverns
At gambling tables, decadent and profligate.

44. He loses health amid cups and dice,
And wealth to gambling, squandered.

45. If Sulayma sincerely advised him, he spurned her
Harshly, forbidding, defiant.

46. He relates the follies of every alley,
And recites the immoralities of dens, chanting.

47. His speech is vulgar, so if she complained,
The least he would do is rebuke her, threatening.

48. If she wanted something, he opposed her
Stubbornly, exceeding in vengeance and transgression.

49. He resents returning home for even an hour -
So he leaves angry and returns enraged.

50. When she suffered unbearable torment,
Death eased some of the deposited humiliation.

51. An hour of torture equals her wealth,
Making her forget status, honor, and glory.

52. Sulayma concealed her torment and passion
For the one they distanced, captive and fettered.

53. An infatuation nestled in the heart's branches
Flaring up when remembered like kindling ignited.

54. She was cast away from roses like a gazelle escaped,
Eluding the hunters but pierced by two arrows.

55. The arrows course through her 'til she dies;
So it was when Sulayma's plight grew worse,

56. And she despaired to the point of death, in bonds,
Where is Sulayman after being cut off from her?

57. He left, his heart burning with the wound of love
Ever since it bled, spread, and was bandaged.

58. But it is an alien wound, and one who suffers it
Sees the alien wound heal and be dressed.

59. Tell her the separation made him suffer destruction,
And that he bears torment and distress.

60. He did not die, but each hour despair kills him,
And endurance revives him, tried and firm.

61. He conceals his anguished heart to comfort his passion,
Toiling at work, exhausted and spent.

62. It is vain to seek solace if one burns in love -
A fire not quenched but raging instead.

63. If after losing hope in her he lives, it is for
A mystery that created and settled all beings.

64. Do your friends know, Sulayma, that you
Are wed to misery, cradling sorrow?

65. The malady pierces the throbbing heart,
Expanding it with despair, illness and fatigue.

66. You count the remaining nights in agony
And weep for the departed nights, fervent.

67. You grieve for a youth that was light, now extinguished,
And lament a heart that was embers, now quenched.

68. You reckon what has passed of the days with him
And return, remembering, to examine it.

69. Except you protected your feelings as
Saplings are protected, nurtured.

70. How often did the memory of Sulayman disturb her heart,
Keeping the long night awake, sleepless!

71. When she lay down to rest, she saw a specter
Beside her, keeping her company in slumber.

72. If she got up to walk, his figure appeared
Before her eyes, materialized, embodied.

73. She sees him sometimes miserable, disappointing,
Other times, delighted, charming, fortunate.

74. His phantoms disquiet her as she frequents
Places, wandering to and fro, appeased.

75. A latent illness overwhelms her, and it
Baffles the healers, accustomed and stubborn.

76. Until it grew, slowly and heavily,
Vanquishing her fading powers, extinguished.

77. She died, and the pangs of sorrow in her heart;
Her eyes on the horizon, awaiting the departed.

78. They reported her death to Sulayman, so he recoiled
Like a palace shaken by gusts, demolished.

79. Grief froze his tears, though it is worst
When tears freeze and do not flow.

80. His heart battered him, disjointed,
And his mind assailed him, deranged.

81. His soul revolted, seeking vengeance
As a brave warrior stirs, enraged.

82. He came to her father, carrying sharpened
Steel, lethal and unsheathed.

83. And said: O withered flower of youth!
O transformer of youth's water to stagnant!

84. Return Sulayma to me - where is Sulayma? Should I not
Have ransomed her with souls? I would have been ransomed!

85. The sparks of death flashed in his looks,
So he grabbed and restrained him forcefully.

86. He retreated, afraid and remorseful,
Horrified as if bitten by an adder.

87. But he disgraced his heart, cowardly,
By assaulting a hunchbacked elderly man.

88. Will you kill out of grief that has collapsed your pillar?
Angering Sulayma in the dust, deliberately?

89. You would doom the one who was the source of her life -
The one whose mind for her would have been ransom!

90. He harmed her unintentionally, not by design,
Nor is one who did not intend blamed.

91. No - the wealth of hatred did not die,
And for Sulayman it is enough to revolt and hate.

92. Horror had silenced his tongue,
Altering the rest of his mind, distraught.

93. So he plunged the blade through his ribs,
Burying the steel in the bone, sheathed.

94. He tilted, dying like a minaret fallen,
Or a trunk, slain, stretched on the ground.

95. But those true to their covenant came to receive him;
Loyal without promise, they came without summoned.

96. They slept in the safety of God, in the shade of a paradise
Established for the souls of lovers, eternal.

97. They rested, gratified, with moral excellence,
And lived in bliss, undying.

98. Awakened in God's mercy, remember
The lovers who remained asleep in calamities.