Sol 5.6

  1. His heart has burdened him heavily on Humayda’s account;

    surely that is enough to keep the heart engrossed.

  2. Let no other woman besides her cross your mind,

    as though the heart had room beyond Humayda.

  3. She has captured it and locked my love behind its doors;

    so it lies in her prison, barred away from all mankind.

  4. If you have done what you have done, then speak

    a kindly word of praise—and follow word with deed.

  5. Grant me your love, and I call God to witness that I shall not

    seek union with anyone but you as long as I live—

  6. as long as the mourning dove cries in a valley

    grown with arak, and the wind stirs the tamarisks.

  7. May God make the face of every envious man

    whom I deem unworthy of her among mankind,

  8. or any envier who ever seeks you harm—

    that rancorous hater—a sole beneath your saddle.

  9. I said, when she approached, swaying amid radiant women

    like wild ewes of the open waste straying across the sand.

  10. They veiled themselves in striped mantles, yet revealed

    eyes wide and dark, their whites brilliantly clear.

  11. Welcome, welcome to Umm Jubayr,

    and to her companions—welcome and ease!

  12. I did not welcome your displeasure, but

    welcome, if you are pleased with us, and welcome indeed:

  13. the finest of all people in company and conversation,

    in stature too, and the most perfect of all in judgment.

Sol 5.6