Sol 6

  1. The tale of my love for you is old.

    And the excess of my torment in loving you is bliss.

  2. Torment me however you wish, except with your displeasure; for it—

    And believe me—my devotion in loving you is painful.

  3. Longing conjures your image as a vision in my mind,

    And a fearful silence overtakes me before you.

  4. My soul is content with a fleeting imagined glimpse of you,

    And through it my limbs revive, though they are crumbling.

  5. Blessed is an eye that loses all sleep over you,

    And woe to a heart that does not adore you.

  6. When thought revealed you, O summit of my hopes,

    You remained settled and abiding in my heart.

  7. The universe is only a form, and you are its soul;

    How can a body stand without a soul?

  8. My companions imagined that I was touched by madness,

    And friends and intimates found my condition strange.

  9. So I spoke openly of what I suffer because of you;

    One who keeps silent never tastes the delights of love.

  10. O branch of the sandhill, I grow jealous whenever

    A breeze plays with your graceful sides.

  11. And when a flame appeared on the Sinai of your cheek

    And flashed before my heart, it returned wounded.

  12. My heart finds its torment in loving you sweet;

    Why should it not, when you know its every state?

  13. I swear by the pilgrims’ voices at Mina

    And by the companions whose camels sound in the two passes:

  14. Even if you have become sparing with your union,

    And scorn me, you remain precious to me.

  15. What honor is mine, now that you have gone and love

    Has left its marks upon my wasted, slender body.

  16. O driver who wears out the weary mounts,

    As they hasten among deserted traces:

  17. When your eyes behold a flash at Abraq

    Shining as stars shine on the horizon,

  18. And the east wind whispers the hills’ secrets

    And fragrance scents the reaches of the wastes,

  19. And you see Salʿ, stop and ask after my beloved;

    That is what I now seek from you.

  20. For there is a young gazelle there for whom my longing is fierce,

    A white gazelle from whom my heart cannot depart.

  21. I distract my companions with talk of other things,

    While mention of anyone else wounds my heart.

  22. He has dwelling places in the innermost part of my heart,

    And traces between the dark pupils of my eyes.

  23. And say: O one of rare beauty, show mercy to an exile,

    A stranger whose heart dwells with you.

  24. It left him when you departed and turned away;

    It will not return to him until you return.

  25. Peace be upon you from a sorrowful lover;

    May you remain unharmed, though he is wounded by you.

Sol 6