Sol 5.6

  1. He set out at dawn, weeping for his loved ones, and departed.

    The gray doves of Dhū Salam lamented, and he too lamented.

  2. A lightning-flash appeared to him in a cloud bank over Najd;

    So he yearned for Najd’s lightning when it flashed.

  3. He saw the lightning’s gleam—there was no sleep for him.

    He turned aside by the ruined camps—and there was no leaving.

  4. In Najd he has a tender, full-figured maiden;

    His very heart would ransom that tender, full-figured maiden.

  5. When she smiled, you would see that she had front teeth

    Like pearls in color, and like daisies.

  6. She shows you a slender wand of the bān tree upon a bough

    That bears all of night—and morning too.

  7. How often she bewitched, though she never toyed with sorcery;

    And how often she slew, though she never bore a weapon.

  8. If her bracelets spoke with coquettish charm,

    And her anklet too—then surely her sash spoke.

  9. And if she possesses the whole measure of beauty,

    Then ʿIzz al-Dīn has possessed generosity itself.

Sol 5.6