Sol 5.6

  1. She is veiled, though the full moon wears no face-veil;

    and she is veiled nowhere but within hearts.

  2. She sets within the palace, and from it she rises;

    thus her palace is both her east and her west.

  3. It is the sky, and she its full moon; around her,

    from every celestial sphere, a star blazes.

  4. I do not call her hair night—far be that—

    —from it! For beneath it, night is a hoary dawn.

  5. Nor do I call her face a sun: anything like the—

    —sun, in my eyes, is a coal ablaze.

  6. Nor do I call her cheek fire, for indeed

    every fire goes out and grows damp.

  7. Nor do I call her teeth pearls, for pearls

    in the hands of men are pierced.

  8. Nor do I call her figure a bough, for the—

    —bough, however it may be, is firewood.

  9. Blessed be God who fashioned her

    a marvel before which wonder itself stands bewildered.

  10. He caused her to grow among us, a goodly growth,

    and she drinks from the longings of souls.

  11. For passion has a watering place in every heart,

    and passion has a bond with every soul.

  12. I pass the night like one stung, because I say “A—”

    —h”; my saying “Ah” is nothing but a scorpion.

Sol 5.6