Sol 6.1

  1. Abu Amr says, one morning when tears streamed

    in drops from the eye, and its flowing tears overflowed:

  2. Is it truly for a basil sprig whose scent was sweet

    that you kept weeping for a beloved and lamenting her?

  3. So I told him: Do not heap blame on me, for

    my soul's headstrong passion has overwhelmed me.

  4. As though you did not know the reverence owed to Abda,

    and the secrets of love we hold and do not reveal.

  5. The snub-nosed beauty held back from me, unaware

    of one with a burning liver—her wounded lover, choking.

  6. And the days, without a meeting with her, have almost

    run out, save when her auspicious apparition passes by.

  7. Sweet basil reminds me of the scent of the one

    whose fragrance matches musk even when she wears no perfume.

  8. Ubayda is the soul's concern if her love draws near;

    and if she goes far from it, its spirit deserts the soul.

  9. So my soul gives me no relief from longing for her,

    nor do I relieve it of prolonged hope.

  10. Love for you is the soul's evening draught every night,

    and remembrance of you is its morning draught every day.

  11. And the soul has needs of you when it is alone;

    its eloquent speaker will be tongue-tied over them when we meet.

  12. So I shall not forget, as long as a dove sings,

    and as long as their Messiah stirs longing in Christian monks.

Sol 6.1