Sol 6.1

  1. O you whose eyes sleep, heedless of my sleeplessness and insomnia,

    And whose heart is free of my longing and burning anguish,

  2. How long shall I destroy my tormented soul

    Through two opposites—burning and drowning?

  3. And indeed, the strangest thing you will hear

    Is tears wiped away by the eyelids of one aflame.

  4. So at times I am hopeful of union,

    And at times, in despair, I am filled with dread.

  5. How often I have sought to send my breaths as messengers

    On my behalf to you; then the heart said, 'Do not trust.'

  6. As though my sighs, within my breast,

    Were scorching midsummer winds among withered leaves.

  7. If only love had not been created for lovers,

    Or that, when they tasted love, I had not tasted it.

  8. Here is parting, and here is abandonment following it;

    O heart, be patient through two deaths in succession.

  9. I say to my soul, while longings overwhelm it:

    How can one escape between rough ground and slippery ground?

  10. O eye, you let your gaze wander—so pour out tears.

    O heart, you let thought roam—so burn.

Sol 6.1