Sol 5.6

  1. Stand by the dwellings—for what age have you ever failed to stand

    at the abandoned homes between al-Ẓahr and al-Najaf?

  2. What would make you stand amid the ruins of an abode

    but the passion she has newly kindled in your heart?

  3. If you have become infatuated with a young woman,

    then no—by your Lord—she will not cure you of love’s fever;

  4. she will only give you further draughts of sorrow.

    Has your heart, then, any patience to endure that grief?

  5. Leave that, and speak of the man of Muḍar who has triumphed

    through noble deeds and an honor acquired without wrongdoing.

  6. This is the address of an old man of the Banū Asad,

    sending greetings in writing to al-ʿAbbās.

  7. It is penned by a scribe from among the maidens of the city,

    who long was beaten over the letters lām and alif,

  8. and long made her way, in summer and in winter,

    to her teacher with tablet and shoulder blade.

  9. At last, when her breasts had grown even and filled out,

    and excess and revulsion were feared on her account,

  10. she was guarded for three years, seeing no one,

    as an oyster’s pearl is guarded in the sea.

  11. While the young man was walking toward his mosque,

    hastening to the dawn prayer in the twilight,

  12. a glance from her came his way, and he saw her

    peering from her chamber between her two curtains.

  13. He fell upon the dust, not knowing that morning

    whether he had fallen exposed or still covered.

  14. The people came to him in crowds, carrying their water,

    to sprinkle drops upon the man who had fainted.

  15. They murmured Qur’anic verses into his ears,

    fearing the jinn—though the man himself feared nothing.

  16. It was only through love of a young woman

    that by night and morning he stood on the brink of ruin.

  17. “God favor you! What did you see?” they asked. I told them,

    “A jinni woman of the Banū Khalaf struck me down.

  18. I saw a secluded young woman of theirs

    peer down from the heights of the turreted palace.”

  19. I said, “Which of you—may God reward him—

    will lend his strength to aid my weakness?”

  20. Then a handsome old man, one of their merchants, arose,

    who had long deceived people with his oaths.

  21. He bought her for me for two thousand dirhams, then next morning

    brought her to me and laid her upon my shoulder.

  22. I spent the night kissing her at times, and she kissing me

    at times, while beneath the covers we did a certain something.

  23. We passed the night so, until her former owner came

    seeking his dinars, weighed on a balance with two pans.

  24. That debt is indeed owed by Zand—but how can he pay it,

    when the debt is at one end and the cash at the other?

  25. And between the two stand witnesses whom I did not heed,

    whether I admitted the debt or denied it.

  26. If you favor me with a gift, I shall pay the people their due;

    but if you say no, the people’s claim is lost.

Sol 5.6