The virtues of this maiden of the fair and battling eyes I certainly can remember, provided first I can forget them: but how to forget them I know not!
She
-
He will not go from my eyes, neither will he be hurt when I wink: so subtle is the form of my beloved.47
-
My beloved dwelleth ever within my eyes: so I do not paint them even lest I lose sight of him even for an instant.48
-
My beloved is ever in my heart: so I eat not hot food lest it burn him there.
-
I wink not for fear that I should lose sight of him even for that instant: and for this the village folk charge him with cruelty.49
-
He dwelleth lovingly within my bosom and is never away from thence: and yet the village folk declare that he hath abandoned me, and call him cruel.
CXIV
Overpassing the Bounds of Decorum
He
-
To those who are torn from their loved one and suffer the pangs of their passion there is no other resource left but the riding of the palmyra stalk.50
-
Body and soul cannot support this anguish and have consented to ride the palm: they have trampled down all shame.
-
Firmness and delicacy I had formerly: but now I possess only the stalk of the palmyra that is ridden by the lovelorn lover.
-
I put my trust on the raft that was built of firmness and delicacy: but the rushing stream of passion hath carried it along in its course.
-
This fair one who weareth tiny bracelets and who is tender as a flower, it is she that hath given me the palm-stalk and the anguish of eventide.
-
My eyes cannot sleep for thinking of that artless one: I shall ride the stalk therefore even in this late hour of the night.
-
Nothing is grander than the woman who refuseth to ride the palm-stalk even when the passion of her heart is deep as the ocean.
She
-
My Passion considereth not the strength of my modesty nor my kindness towards itself, and betrayeth my secret by showing itself abroad.
-
My passion seeth that none taketh notice of it: and it wandereth about in the streets in great anguish.
-
Fools laugh at me to my very face: for they have not felt all the pangs that I feel.
CXV
The Public Humour
He
-
As the outcry riseth in the village my life cometh back to me: it is my good luck that many do not know this secret.51
-
These village folk know not the rare virtues of my beloved with the flower-like eyes: for they have given her cheaply to me by raising this clamour.
-
Is not this gossip of the village a precious thing unto me? for even without obtaining her I feel as if I possess her already.
-
This clamour hath increased my passion for her: without it it would have been but a stale affair.
-
Even as every cup that is drunk but maketh the drunkard thirst for more, even so doth every discovery of his passion by others but increase its sweetness for the lover.
She
-
Our meeting was but for one day: but the outcry that hath arisen over it is as when the serpent hath swallowed the moon!52
-
The public talk is the manure, and the reproach of mother is the water, that unite to feed and prolong this anguish.
-
To think of extinguishing my passion by raising this clamour is like wanting to put out a fire by pouring ghee over it.
-
Is it for me to blush at this outcry now, when he who said, Fear not, hath abandoned me to the scandal of every bystander?
-
This clamour which I in my heart so much desire, the village rabble hath raised for me: verily my beloved will not refuse it me if I should beg it of him.
Section II
Chastity
CXVI
The Pangs of Separation
She
-
If there is anything about not parting, speak it to me: but if it is only thy quick return, tell it to those who will survive till then.
-
His mere look was once a delight unto me: but now even his embrace saddeneth, for that I fear that he is to part.
-
It is impossible to put trust in any, seeing that the thought of separation lurketh somewhere even in the heart of him who knoweth my heart.
-
If he who bade me be of good cheer consenteth to part from me, can I be blamed for having placed my trust in his solemn promise?
-
If thou wouldst save my life, O my maid, prevent the master of that life, from going: for if he part from me, I despair of our meeting again.
-
When he hath the hardness to say to my very face, I shall depart, I give up all hope of his ever coming back to save me.53
-
Would not my close-fitting bracelets themselves that have slipped from my wrists raise the bruit of the parting of my lord?54
-
Bitter is life in a place where there are no bosom friends: but bitterer far is separation from the beloved one.
-
Hath fire, which burneth only when it is touched the power, like love, to burn when it is far away?
-
Many there are, are there not, who live through the pangs of leave-taking and of separation, and survive till the return of the beloved!
CXVII
Bewailing the Pangs of Separation and Pining Away
She
-
I smother my grief within me, but behold! it only welleth up more and more even as the water of the spring to those who are draining it.
-
To conceal my grief is now beyond me: but as to disclosing it, I should feel it a shame to speak of it even to him that caused it.
-
At the two ends of the pole which is my life, my two loads of passion and delicacy hang heavy; and this suffering body breaketh
