Sol 5.6

  1. They are gazelles hidden in their lairs,

    stirring a haunting thought within the heart.

  2. They have kindled in its depths

    a fire that rivals the fire of Persia.

  3. From their eyelids they have drawn

    a sword that cleaves through helmets,

  4. and they thrust with spears

    like swaying branches,

  5. and shoot against their foes with arrows

    from languorous eyes.

  6. A war has risen in full fury,

    as though it were the War of Dāḥis;

  7. yet in it are weapons

    that make even knights afraid:

  8. sword and spear and arrow—

    who can contend against them?

  9. While I was vigilant,

    guarding against war’s bite,

  10. suddenly my heart lay fallen,

    somewhere between dead and faintly whispering.

  11. It was struck by an unerring arrow

    from one whose languorous glance beguiles,

  12. perfect in form and beauty,

    every limb harmoniously proportioned.

  13. When he appears, he is a full moon

    whose radiance dispels the deepest dark;

  14. and when he bends, he is a branch

    of the tender ben tree, swaying.

  15. His cheeks seem to be

    roses planted by no gardener.

  16. A snake of down along his cheek guards them

    from the touch of one seeking to pluck.

  17. His smiling mouth seems to be

    pearls brought up by no diver;

  18. within it flows the nectar of honey

    that no bee has ever touched.

  19. His fragrance seems to be musk

    filling the gathering places with its scent.

  20. Pampered, with a watcher over him,

    hard to lead and frowning,

  21. he is veiled away and never appears;

    the lovesick one despairs of union with him.

Sol 5.6