Sol 6.1

  1. She arrived and perfumed the surroundings and the horizon—

    A cherished wish, whose fragrance has perfumed our land.

  2. She arrived as though the east wind had spent the night soothing her

    With the trees, amid gardens whose shoots rose tall.

  3. Or a fragrant breath from the hills of Dārīn

    Had bestowed perfume on her beneath the pitch-dark wing of night.

  4. A slender beauty, glorying in a figure graced by a narrow waist,

    Like a tender bān shoot bearing its fruit.

  5. She gazes at me with eyes of brilliant white and deepest black,

    Whenever she appears before a heart love-maddened or enamored.

  6. Had Ibn ʿUnayn seen the beauty of her countenance,

    I would surely have reminded him of a time that kindles burning grief.

  7. How beautiful she was when she visited us, richly adorned,

    With pearls strung in ordered rows at the hollows of her throat.

  8. Or if she confronted Ḥabīb, eloquent though he was,

    She would put him to shame, and Saḥbān too, should he speak.

  9. She brought a greeting of affection from a trusted brother,

    Whose fragrance puts freshly opened musk's aroma to shame.

  10. No wonder that I, among humankind, yearn for him;

    For a noble man naturally longs for the companions of youth.

  11. I long for his radiant face as long as there rises

    The sun of day, and its dawn reveals a rosy glow.

  12. And whenever, at dawn, a Syrian breeze blows

    At Jillaq's foot, or the sanctuary's lightning flickers.

  13. Our beloved friends, by Him whom I beseech imploringly

    To favor your pining lover with a meeting,

  14. Never have I recalled a dwelling that delighted me because of you

    Without becoming distraught and choking on my tears.

  15. Nor has there sung, at forenoon, in the gardens of the two Ghoutas

    A gray dove, tenderly lamenting a distant mate,

  16. Without my patience ebbing or my fortitude weakening,

    And tears overflowing from my eyes and pouring forth.

  17. May rain bless our days when we were all together,

    And the foe was broken, and we had no fear.

  18. When life's aspect was cheerful, serene, and joyous,

    And Time had lowered its eyelid, turning a blind eye to us.

  19. We dallied with every charmer of kohl-dark, bewitching eyes,

    Who shamed the gazelles of ʿUsfān whenever he was gentle,

  20. Especially if he took his morning drink from the cup,

    Or, in his coquetry, took an evening drink from the cup.

  21. Would that Time, whose morrow decreed for us

    The scattering of our gathered company, had never been created!

  22. Ah, will our brief hours once spent with you

    Return one day, so I may reap a reunion with you?

  23. I surely hope the Most Merciful will grant your return

    One day, so we may reunite my company after it scattered.

  24. May He water al-ʿAwāṣim with a downpour that does not harm them,

    And lavish on them copious rain from the clouds' waterskins.

  25. Upon you, from me, be God's peace, as long as there remains

    A longing that stirs sorrows and burning anguish.

  26. The Nuʿāmā wind bears it toward your land,

    Like musk from Dārīn, growing sweeter whenever inhaled.

Sol 6.1