Sol 6.1

  1. May I be rid of the tricks of ʿAbd al-Raḥīm,

    and the daughter of his gaping anus.

  2. There is no barrier in the curtain

    when one knee strikes another.

  3. Can a length of silk conceal

    a lovesick man's passion from a lovesick woman among them?

  4. When the female cupbearers carry the cups

    in rounds among the company, or as a chosen serving,

  5. one treads on a tender foot,

    and another twists a supple fingertip.

  6. Then, if night trails part of its hem,

    you see them taking turns, one after another.

  7. And your presence inspires no awe,

    nor is your watcher held in any regard.

  8. Scenes Shullakh did not approve of,

    nor Ibn Shaʿūb, nor Kubbah.

  9. How, then, can someone pin hopes on you after seeing

    your haggling over a copper coin and a grain,

  10. and your eating from the prisoners' provisions,

    and your wearing the Kaaba's stripped-off coverings?

Sol 6.1