Sol 5.6

  1. Have you no cure, O malady of the lover?

    Yes—among certain people there is healing from you.

  2. A captive of foes is ransomed by his family with wealth,

    but for the captive of beautiful women there is no ransom.

  3. The lions of al-Sharā defend their lives in war

    with their valor—so long as no gazelles come into view.

  4. If you are free of love, then pardon the passion-stricken lover,

    for the afflicted and the untroubled are not alike.

  5. Would you command me to endure separation from the one I love?

    Impossible! In loving him, I have no solace.

  6. I die of longing, then revive only for my misery;

    such is the life of lovers: suffering.

  7. Behold, the ardent lover’s heart lies in his beloved’s hand;

    the beloved turns it about in love however he wishes.

  8. Come now—had you tasted passion, you would forgive me,

    your eyelids languid and your heart scattered like dust.

  9. Before you, I used to blame love’s devotees for their passion;

    now here I am, the most abject and wretched among them.

  10. The arrows of glances struck my heart when the eyes took aim—

    to God belong those martyrs slain by eyes!

Sol 5.6