Sol 5.6

  1. I embarked upon a sea of tears,

    my frail body its ship.

  2. Its wind tore apart my sails

    from the moment the hour of departure stormed.

  3. O neighbors who left my eyes

    streaming down my cheeks like springs,

  4. in love you disappointed all my hopes—

    such were not the hopes I cherished.

  5. Show grace, and do not seek my death,

    for your abandonment is death.

  6. Beautify the dwelling by returning,

    and cool the lovesick sufferer’s anguish.

  7. Allow my eyes the mercy of sleep,

    and shorten my long night.

  8. By God, by God, nothing gave me

    the cup of death but your abandonment.

  9. I spent my lifetime loving you,

    yet did not fulfill your covenant.

  10. The longing I bear is enough for me,

    so add no more through your rejection.

  11. In love you scattered all my forces

    and treated the guide’s companionship badly.

  12. You paid no heed to my submission

    or to my standing there like one abased.

  13. O driver of al-ʿAbbās amid the companies,

    setting out across deserts and wastes,

  14. turn aside from the first four encampments,

    and make with it for the noblest abode.

  15. If water runs scarce at the watering places,

    or, upon alighting, you desire a fire,

  16. seek water from my tears—

    how many paths they have through the wilderness!

  17. And take fire from between my ribs,

    for deep within my breast a flame is lodged.

  18. By God, if the domes come into view,

    greet those dwelling beneath the dome,

  19. and tell them: your lover is afflicted,

    and his heart yearns toward you.

  20. O moon with a veil before it,

    the full moon’s radiance was never veiled from me—

  21. a full moon when it gleamed at al-Rujūʿ

    or appeared at al-Bann and al-Nakhīl.

  22. At its rising it eclipsed the sun:

    its dazzling, beautiful splendor.

Sol 5.6