Sol 5.6

  1. We kept asking after Abu al-Sahma, until

    we reached the noblest host a night traveler could call upon.

  2. We said, “Abu al-Sahma, indeed we

    have found al-Azd farther away than Nizar.”

  3. At once he rose, dragging toward us in his haste

    the lingering tatters of sleep along with his waist-wrapper.

  4. Then he went to a choice, long-bodied she-camel,

    her nose scarred and dressed with pitch.

  5. She was felled for them while the cauldron boiled

    with something whiter than the rich hump-fat of milk-dry she-camels.

  6. It was as though the yearning gaze cast into it were

    maidens peering out toward ʿAdhār.

Sol 5.6