عندي إذا مالروض أصبح ذابلا — Al Sari Al Raffa

When the garden has grown withered, I have

treasures fresher in their charms than gardens.

Mute, they tell those who come later of those who came before,

of bygone marvels, though they are not themselves the first.

Their backs have been watered by the tips of reed pens,

and their insides with copious dew and pouring rain.

They meet you in garments red and black,

so you take them for brides and bereaved mothers.

And they show you what has gone by in an age now past,

until you see it standing before your mind's eye.

And when you are alone with them, thirsty at heart,

they offer you watering places fed by the rain of minds.

And when unbound, they give birth to marvels;

they remain pregnant as long as their covers are clasped shut.

They wear mantles of leather, as though

you had poured liquid saffron perfume into them.

So when you stretch your right hand toward them to open them,

your right hand grows fragrant, palm and fingertips.

Their gardens spread upon their counterparts

richly embroidered robes and a full array of ornaments.

A garden adorned by minds, and a garden

that pouring rains have adorned through the night.

And two battalions, Zanj and Romans, have kindled

a war in which intelligence unsheathes swords,

on a battlefield whose spaces combat has divided

into stations among the marked warriors.

They have spilled no blood there, yet it is as though

they had oozed blood above and below.

Whenever you look at it, it reveals to your eye

two rivals maneuvering, one advancing and one feinting.

So this one seems sober, walking straight,

and that one drunk, strutting at a slant.

Marvel at this war: when it blazes, it brings out

men's excellence, but raises no clouds of dust.

And two arbiters over souls, who sometimes

fail to pass a just judgment on them.

Two brothers have inscribed upon their backs

a mark that spurs misfortunes against the dull-witted.

The fortunate meets them as a rising lucky star,

and the unlucky sees them as a lucky star setting.

So when the two come together on a young man's palm,

they harm him or grant him an immediate gain.

And varieties of wine: when you behold them,

you behold the joys of souls in their fullness.

Like brides, never are they unveiled at evening

without differing in necklaces and fine gowns.

And a nasal-voiced youth, whose cheek-whiskers sparked, then took cover,

while his mustache turned green and advanced to confront them.

from a company whose bodies' ornaments are fashioned

green, even when their bodies wear no ornaments.

White in days of punishment, patiently enduring,

red in days of roguery, springing to attack.

The youths discuss how to declare things forbidden,

then go their ways, slain without reproach, and slayers.

And indeed, I had pondered roguery before him,

so I found it a truth called falsehood.

So come early, Abu Bakr, for desire has come early,

smiling at my side, though it had been grim and fierce.

And answer the call to drink wine, for it

brings me all-encompassing joy through your nearness.

And I suffice you as a friend whose qualities delight,

and one like you suffices as a helper and faithful companion.