Sol 5.6

  1. Will the ailing lover’s greeting receive a reply?

    Or is there a promise of the dawn of reunion?

  2. I pass the night watching the darkness with an eye

    Whose nourishment is flowing tears and sleeplessness.

  3. No companion, when I lament my plight,

    Pities me, nor does any listener answer.

  4. Amid mountain peaks, upon whose earth

    A cloak of cloud-veils lies spread,

  5. There I remain, wailing alone—

    And everyone far from home is alone.

  6. Who will aid my heart against a valley gazelle

    Bounding amid a thicket of spear-shafts?

  7. By passion’s decree he became my sovereign,

    And passion’s decree admits no appeal.

  8. O Sa‘d, tell me—for you know better—

    When will the ridges of al-‘Aqiq appear?

  9. I yearn for Najd and those who dwell there;

    Yet how far from me this morning is Najd!

  10. My heart has melted for love of Layla—

    Alas for a heart that longing has wasted away!

  11. How, then, can I reach evening without a heart,

    O light of my eyes—and how can I reach morning?

  12. Everything, however long it may endure,

    Has a limit; but ardent love has none.

  13. Before love there is no “before,”

    And after love there is no “after.”

  14. Is there, then, some day for attaining union,

    After long estrangement, a promise?

  15. And shall I see myself beside a camel-driver

    Chanting praise of the Best of Creation?

  16. May my God release me from captivity,

    For He unfailingly does whatever He wills.

Sol 5.6