ملامك في صدودي واجتنابي — Albohtry

Spare me your reproach for my turning away and avoidance,

and my remoteness in eastern lands and my exile.

For the urgings of longing have begun to call

toward settlements at Wasit or Kinab.

Wishes are to be fulfilled; then my resolve is carried through

toward you, between the calls 'Hal!' and 'Hab!'

Though I leave behind half my soul,

and my solace whether far away or near:

a brother to whom I give my innermost affection,

and for whom I pray for the clouds’ pearls.

If I ask him for aid, he is an arm of the sea;

or rouse him to action, he is a son of the thicket.

Whenever I alight in his courtyard, I find him

with a welcoming home and verdant surroundings,

foremost in his house in the honor of lofty attainments,

richly endowed with nobility of lineage,

and wild of ear, never tamed

by repeated reproach and rebuke.

He deems a friend’s reproach directed at him an offense,

and counts rebuke among insults.

Nor has he been prodded for slowness in meeting needs,

as a sluggish camel among the mounts is prodded.

Abu Bishr, you are my brother and my beloved,

and the one my testing and choosing have approved.

Let a base-born man of the house of Zayd be your ransom,

a giver of favors to one in the bloom of youth.

He cares little if by evening he is ill-

spoken of, if in the morning he is well dressed.

His penis is abased while needs are fulfilled,

and his chest is smeared with dust.

And access to his testicles is granted—permission

open to all, even if he retreats deep behind the veil.