Sol 6.1

  1. O breeze of the south, by God, convey

    what the love-stricken, love-distraught one says.

  2. Tell his beloveds: "May you be ransomed by a heart

    that finds no solace, and an eye that never sleeps."

  3. You departed, and sleeplessness dwells with me;

    since you went far away, life to me is death.

  4. To al-Karkh, then al-Qatiʿa, then

    al-Shatt, then Bab al-Shaʿir, my greetings.

  5. O abodes of joy, may clouds never cease to weep

    over you, where the gardens smile.

  6. How often the life I lived in you was fresh,

    while the eyelids of calamities slept, oblivious to me.

  7. In nights that seemed a haven,

    from a time that seemed like dreams.

  8. And the hours within them seemed like cups,

    passed around, their convivial joy the wine.

  9. A time of happiness, a devoted companion,

    and wishes the imagination savored.

  10. All companionship, pleasure, and joy

    are forbidden to me since you departed.

  11. And many a company among

    people has a brother above them, noble though they are.

Sol 6.1