Sol 6.1

  1. Endure sorrows; through them you will attain success.

    And endure the night: behind it surely lies dawn.

  2. Do not be driven to despair of a secluded woman

    By a word she makes harsh, even if it wounds.

  3. Women's resistance gives way to compliance,

    And the unruly one yields after kicking.

  4. But how can he bear his long night,

    Restless on his pillow, spending the night on his side?

  5. The confidant of his hidden need said—

    And his physician for the heart, should it be sore—

  6. What ails your day, that you take no joy in it,

    So you might go your way that day, or linger?

  7. So I answered him with words that were true—

    And you tell your brother the truth, even if he scowls.

  8. Indeed, the beloved has put an end to his visits,

    And I grieved over what was hidden, should it come to light.

  9. My sleeplessness is for a figure who never leaves me,

    And my heart loves him, even if he is far away.

  10. When he realized that I was infatuated

    With his conversation and his closeness, he turned away.

  11. The tongue bore witness to what I concealed for him,

    And tears bear witness whenever they pour.

  12. I suffer from what I encountered from my beloved:

    I loved him, and he rewarded me with distance.

  13. In regret for him, the morning he parted from me—

    Why not keep him away, even if he is charming?

  14. Oh, how far my heart is from his affection!

    It came to a good state, yet was not set right.

  15. He once used to give me his ardent love,

    And I repaid him with my love for what he gave.

  16. Then Su'da exchanged her nature

    For other traits, to toil otherwise than he had toiled.

  17. Su'ayda held firm, granting me no favor,

    And I grew distraught at love's touch, in my exuberance.

  18. Wretched heart! Will it not outlast her in patience,

    Until she becomes like a jester who has jested?

  19. And one who keeps the eye awake—you think

    He offers counsel, yet gives no sincere advice.

  20. She sealed my heart with her signet,

    And he blames me for loving her—may he be disgraced!

  21. And I kept telling him the truth and lying to him,

    Until he struck a bargain with me, but gained nothing.

  22. Do not blame me for loving, while you are young,

    For my ally is my heart, even if it soars.

  23. And it is held in thrall to a beautiful woman,

    After her favors, by a flash of lightning that gleamed.

  24. If my Lord added to it, for its beloved,

    Love the size of a tiny ant's eye, it would be exposed.

  25. I fear death from sorrow when she goes far away,

    And fear it from joy when she draws near.

  26. Love grew earnest, and I earnestly sought her,

    So she might bring relief from a wanderer's life.

  27. He has found no one like me in persistence,

    In seeking her cure, among those who loved and grew sober.

  28. He forbade my heart to remember her,

    And it makes me more helpless when it runs wild.

  29. If only wishes brought back for us a time

    Like that time of ours which has drifted far away,

  30. When my entry was furtive, stolen in secret,

    To meet a dark-eyed beauty who adorned the jeweled sashes.

  31. Charming in coyness; upon his front tooth

    Is musk that greets me when its scent wafts.

  32. She departed with a long neck amid its necklaces,

    And went on swaying her heavy hips.

  33. I have not forgotten our gathering and her singing girl,

    Nor her lute's barking when it barked,

  34. In the hands of a bracelet-wearing woman who adorns it

    With her music, her music flowing freely.

  35. Until, when she took full hold of it,

    And bent playful silver over them,

  36. It reverberated, and she burst forth matching it,

    Singing richly, her voice mingled with husky tones.

  37. In a gathering whose dangers slept,

    There she joined the pitcher and the cup.

  38. She reaches the innermost secrets, then draws them forth,

    Under darkness, showing no flank.

  39. Until, when its deep darkness lifted,

    And the sparrow awoke, or broke into song,

  40. Morning brought banishment to an amorous lover,

    Who loves the onset of night whenever it falls.

  41. May rain bless that woman, despite her languor,

    And the fragrance of her cheek when it beads with sweat.

  42. I spent the night as her confidant upon her cushions,

    And was robbed of her in the morning, when it grew bright.

Sol 6.1