Sol 5.6

  1. One tale of mine: Ibn Bakr invited me—

    To my misery. Would that he had never invited me!

  2. His appearance and attire deceived me,

    As did his furnishings, his hall, and his vessels.

  3. A hall as lovely as the gardens of Paradise—but

    Hunger made those gardens’ beauty hideous.

  4. By my life, the dining table was there—but

    Nothing that belongs upon a table was there.

  5. And serving bowls vast as cisterns—but

    Nothing in them could be seen with the naked eye.

  6. Many-colored earthenware dishes arrived—but

    They held none of the aromas of varied fare.

  7. Whenever I ran my fingertips around inside them,

    I found nothing my fingertips could touch.

  8. Indeed, I was chewing upon nothing—

    Nothing but teeth clacking against teeth.

  9. My hand returned emptier than the dish itself

    Whenever I reached toward it—my constant occupation and plight.

  10. If only you could see me, with hunger laughing at me,

    As I washed both hands with ushnan cleansing powder!

  11. He went to excess in drinking, just as he ex—

    —ceeded, when it came to food, by stinting it.

  12. The earthenware bowls came to us empty,

    While he gave us drink from a brimming, overflowing vessel.

  13. A bout of drunkenness atop a pang of hunger left me

    Pitying every hungry drunkard.

Sol 5.6