Sol 5.6

  1. I see the tears of the eyes streaming freely.

    Did lightning flash, or did the dove break into song?

  2. Did a fragrant breath blow from the land of Najd?

    Is the ben tree spreading perfume, or have tents come into view?

  3. Or did the lights at al-ʿAlamayn appear?

    Then longing surged, and love betrayed itself.

  4. Did you glimpse the gleam upon al-Ḥimā’s slopes, or

    did passion summon you to speak openly of them?

  5. Did fear hold you back from ʿAqīq al-Khayf,

    so patience became impossible and sickness took command?

  6. A tear appeared upon the smooth expanse of your cheek,

    driven upward by a blaze within your ribs.

  7. I think you are lovesick like me, melancholy;

    then confess your love—one such as you is not blamed.

  8. Tell what befell you, and describe it, for I am

    infatuated with them, yearning, lost in love.

  9. Do you hope for union, though they have gone far away?

    The distance and the desired goal have indeed grown far from you.

  10. Ah, by God, what memories at al-Muṣallā,

    and what noble dwellers at Dhū Salam!

  11. With their camel-song they stirred burning anguish and grief;

    after them, sleep is forbidden to the eye.

  12. Do you think the days will truly grant

    union with them, so the strand may be whole again?

  13. The place of meeting has grown distant, and I fear

    death will overtake me while I am far away.

  14. Alas before God for a life so brief,

    and longing for beloved ones that cannot be fulfilled.

  15. May a dwelling in Yathrib be watered—the place where there abides

    a glory surpassing every glory—by a raincloud,

  16. and may it greet that dwelling with basil and perfume,

    as though a seal had been broken from musk.

Sol 5.6