Sol 6.1

  1. Were it not for the sanctuary and amorous maidens within it,

    I would have no longing for the lightning of Najd.

  2. Robes before it have loosened the knots of my endurance;

    their rights, like my raptures, are due to them.

  3. And in the gardens of the clan's homes at Iḍam

    are freshly picked roses, and in their sleeves are slender boughs.

  4. Wine from them waters the daisies; and when

    the bubbles gleam upon them, their name is the cool lustre of teeth.

  5. Through them, the gazers' eyes win judgment against

    all hearts—a judgment that has no cause

  6. except the feigned languor of eyelids; when they rob,

    then what their intent demands is the robbed one, not the booty.

  7. And at the spacious encampment I have a bough upon a dune;

    it sways; a flutter draws it, and it yields.

  8. The beloved cannot conceal his charms;

    rather, in his radiance the veils themselves are veiled.

  9. I pledge to wine that I shall not part from it,

    because its bubbles resemble the front teeth.

  10. And I watch the lightning—not because I desire its rain,

    but because, like his cheeks, it has a flame.

  11. O you who, in love, are spared what I endure,

    be gentle with a lover's entrails, wasted by affliction.

  12. So if you would earn reward, O my hope,

    you earn it from everyone with a burning liver.

  13. O perfect full moon, in whose waxing lies my darkening,

    the clouds never clear from your horizon.

  14. The drunkards have sobered, but my intoxication with you endures; and there is no

    cause one can recount for this intoxication, nor any lineage.

  15. Its slightest degree has driven patience and solace to despair,

    and affliction has punished the lover for his hopes.

  16. And whenever, O my tears, a flash of radiance gleams,

    you pour down; and if an east wind blows, O my heart, you throb.

Sol 6.1