Sol 5.6

  1. No freshly plucked rose is like the roses of cheeks;

    nor any richly fragrant perfume like the fragrance of curls;

  2. nor aught like the lover’s heart—unquenched though replete;

    nor any thirst-quenching cup like the beloved’s nectar.

  3. O beloved of hearts, coy charm dwells in you,

    and of such coyness you are worthy.

  4. No drink is sweet to me save at your mouth;

    it will not go down for me, nor will a carefree life grow clear.

  5. For you, my face is guidance, my hair my straying;

    in both, the yearning lover finds right guidance and error.

  6. Yours, within the eyelid, is a white Mashrafī blade;

    and from your figure, a brown Samharī spear.

  7. A character like perfume, whose fragrance grows ever stronger;

    to all who inhale it, it is intensely fragrant musk—

  8. Mandalī aloeswood, its aroma Medinan,

    wafting Dārī perfume through the nostrils.

  9. My happiness and bliss have never made up for loving you—

    no, nor Mayy; may Mayy be your ransom!

  10. You have bound the lover with a firm covenant;

    then fulfill the promise—may Luʾayy watch over you.

  11. Were it not for you, a true friend among intimates would be rare;

    and rare indeed in all existence is a loyal friend.

  12. Many a beauty has a grace revealed,

    and many a majesty a grace concealed.

  13. O gazelle of al-Gharī, my heart is a lair;

    therein is your dwelling, not al-Gharī’s lair.

  14. Upon my cheeks is tear upon tear,

    and deep within my ribs, brand upon brand.

  15. Love unfolds what the ribs fold away;

    and so love contains both unfolding and folding.

  16. From me to you, longing’s letters come in unbroken succession;

    you alone among all companions are the beloved within them.

  17. A tamer of difficult verse, a master of rhymes—

    had he lived in al-Raḍī’s age, he would have been called al-Raḍī.

Sol 5.6