1. Spring has come, so where is the one I love
That I may walk with him hand in hand

2. Strolling between beauties who loved me
Like a rose, his cheeks blushed like it

3. The meadows giggled as if
We were thieves seeking refuge far in the thickets

4. We wade into the valley and its water
Its branches, doves nesting in its shelter

5. With its murmuring, rustling, and roaring
Like a vigilant boy shouting “Look here!”

6. Or like shy girls who fled from us
With no voice but their voice

7. No feet but our feet roaming there
Until we penetrated deep within

8. As if we came from its heart, its secrets
Or hunters hiding in the clouds

9. Pursuing a flock of gazelles
Or like prey escaped from the hunter

10. Or fugitive fate chased him down
Or a lover following his darling’s trail

11. Though he disappeared, nowhere to be found
Walking together, then walking side by side

12. I hold him and he holds me, his arm around me
Teasing each other with the finest talk

13. That love inspires—how delightful to indulge!
In the shade of its dome covering it

14. A dome of branches and leaves
Blocking iron spears from the sky

15. Swaying like pavilions hung
On the belt of water we see

16. Shadows in the calm water as though
A friend’s forearm and whoever clasps it finds bliss

17. Flowing over smooth stone while around it
Are emeralds and rubies, pure as can be

18. Bubbling like snakes but bites
Find only healing in its water

19. Pure—but without its sound and reflection
It would be hidden, invisible to the eye

20. The wind plays with it, teasing it
Back and forth around its run

21. Bending, the branches immersed within
One submerged, another stretching to reach it

22. Like camels thirsty, stooping to drink
Or blossoms opening their mouths for it

23. Each bud’s tip like the mouth
Of a silent viper opened wide

24. Until saturated, you swim without wanting
To part from its goodness and tenderness

25. And the falling leaves seem to have
A passion so strong for it they tossed themselves in

26. And you see plant roots infatuated with it
Wandering in it, quenching their thirst

27. Red, yellow, or white
Like snakes slithering in its curves

28. And when it nears a lofty tree in its flow
It trips and goes on smashed feet

29. But soon returns unharmed
Like spilt glass it comes back whole

30. And it seems to avoid reaching the tall
Trees bending back the way it came

31. Until it flows out to the meadows
As if they were its hiding place

32. There the branches embodied it, made it theirs
So their branches became its course

33. It took the form of elegant roses, narcissi
Violets and the like, its peers

34. So it became both what plucks
The thorns from the hearts of the afflicted

35. And there were fresh green meadows
With snakes whose spots were rain drops

36. The blossoms shone and filled the air with fragrance
As if the flowers were its Lord's creation

37. The birds tweeted from the branches and the leaves
Rustled as the water flowed by

38. Those branches swayed and it became
A place of joy, like a paradise of clarity

39. It is a paradise and its angel is my love
Who rules beauty and grace like a god

40. Praise to you, my darling—I see
Nothing that resembles your charm

41. You who I compare to nothing, for you are
Perfection! Behold, such is your beauty!

42. Sweeter than hopes, so much so
I say my hopes have attained their goal in you

43. And more overwhelmingly sweet than our union
So with whom do I compare your beauty and splendor?

44. Sit there, gentle gazelle, with your peerless gathering
Listen, taste, thrill, live! For living is but

45. A moment of long days
Cry out to every brother in joy and bliss through him

46. Does this bliss, I wonder, equal its sorrow?
This is the good life, but few

47. Can achieve it or seek it, so miserable are they
And those who desire it cannot—it is

48. A name without body, oh what loss!