1. The mighty pillars of Layla's house did quake,
As her elegies wept and the dirges shook.

2. A young man wished for her, alas he met
But a boy, raised sheltered by modest maids.

3. A boy who came of age beyond fifteen years,
Yet below what brides do hope to wed.

4. And if his soft hands did caress thy cheek,
They were nurtured thus, still tender and meek.

5. For he had bound to one hand a toy,
Nursing in a dark heart wounds of the coy.