Sol 5.6

  1. I fell for a Bedouin whose speech—

    —whose face and dress were Bedouin, yet whose heart was steadfast.

  2. I embrace in his figure a spear-shaft;

    you see his glances taking the spearhead’s place.

  3. He drew the veil across his mouth,

    giving anemone-red lips to chamomile-white teeth.

  4. The musk of his flowing locks

    streams over the myrtle of his royal brocade-like cheek.

  5. He melts with longing for the barking of dogs

    whenever rapture for the lordly gallant stirs us.

  6. I greet him with roses and jasmine,

    but he yearns for wormwood and abhaqān;

  7. among us he longs for the howling of wolves

    whenever rapture for the swaggering gallant stirs us.

  8. O Bedouin, the arrows of your eyelids

    have felled your guests around the serving bowls.

  9. If your creed is to honor the covenant of protection,

    then say: “You are safe under my pledged protection.”

Sol 5.6