Sol 5.6

  1. You two, tell Rabṭa that I

    was a slave to her father.

  2. Then he passed away—may God have mercy

    on him—and entrusted me to her.

  3. And I believe she has forgotten me,

    just as her brother forgot me.

  4. The month of fasting came advancing

    with a gait I hardly relish,

  5. leading me the Night of

    Decree—as though I sought it.

  6. Butting the qibla for a month,

    my forehead never spares it.

  7. Indeed, I once lived for a time

    a man of standing in my wildernesses.

  8. On winter nights,

    I was a sheikh, basking in the warmth,

  9. seated and kindling a fire

    to roast desert lizards,

  10. with morning and evening draughts

    that I quaffed from leather cups.

  11. I cared nothing for the Night of

    Decree—so do not speak to me of it.

  12. So seek deliverance for me from

    it, and my reward for it shall be yours.

Sol 5.6