O Hind, Shy Away and Feel Ashamed
The poet Omar Ibn Abi Rabia expressed his affection for Hind in the following verse:
O Hind, shy away and feel ashamed,
Do not take my life; it is not permissible for you to shed my blood.
Untie the ropes of magic from the heart of a sorrowful lover,
And do not long for the death of a Muslim.
For you, and the House of Allah, are my concerns and my end,
And greatness is found in eloquence, whether it is from the clear or the obscure.
By Allah, I have not loved you with love more profound,
Nor have I desired any other, O Hind, so know this.
She turned aside and said: “You are a liar!” and frowned,
My soul is the sacrifice for the aloof and the stern.
She proclaimed: “You remain forever in love,”
A lovesick one from Najd, with a divided passion.
When we met at the crossing, she glanced quickly,
A fear of the watchful eyes of her kin.
She signaled with her eye out of concern for her family,
A gesture of someone sad, without speaking a word.
I realized that her eyes said: Welcome,
And greetings to the beloved, the infatuated.
I returned the gesture with a greeting,
And spoke words of someone thoughtful, not unprepared.
Whenever your name stirs in my heart,
I shed tears that choke my ability to speak.
And I willingly submit to what you deserve,
Despite the harshness and coldness displayed by you.
I am blamed for my love, as if I invented it,
Though love has been the custom since before Jorham.
She said: “You have obeyed the envious, and who obeys
The slanderous liar’s words will eventually regret.”
And you have cut the ties of affection from those who
Bestowed genuine love before turning away.
I said: “Listen, O Hind, and try to understand,
The words of someone sorrowful, enchanted by your love.
My secret has perished, yet my affection remains intact,
And my words have not brought relief, O my beloved.”
If you should kill me without cause, I tell you:
The words of an innocent craving for love.
Congratulations on my death, if my affection remains pure,
For your love has surely consumed my flesh and blood.
What Harm Would It Be If You Were Kind to Me?
Abdul Wahid Ibn Zaidoun expressed his affection for Wallada bint al-Mustakfi in the following poem:
What harm would it be if you were kind to me?
Since you are aware of my ailment.
May it please you, my desire and my wish,
That you are the source of my complaint.
You laugh in love while I weep,
O God, between us, be the judge.
I say when sleep departs from me,
A word of longing, a heart that wanders:
O sleeper, whose love awakened me,
Grant me rest, O slumberer!
O Eagle of the Nest, O Nest of Darayya
A love poem by Qais Ibn al-Mulawwah dedicated to Layla:
O Eagle of the nest, O nest of Darayya,
You supplied the maidens from your grip upon the nest.
Reveal to us, or has your feather still been soft?
And have you remained in hunting, stained with your prey?
Reveal to us; it has been long since you left us
In blindness; we cannot discern if it is day or night.
I stood at Marran, singing to my she-camel,
And I did not perish from my she-camels or foals.
And none of the camels answered me other than the yearning
Of a radiant-faced girl, sweet of scent.
With teeth revealed; had her breath been offered,
Those resurrected from the grave would arise.
When Layla is mentioned, I find solace in her name,
As the sparrow shivers from the drops of rain.
All people said when I called out to her,
Yes, and a group said: By God, we do not know.
I have been healed from Layla by Layla regarding passion,
As a drinker heals with wine in a flask.
Did Layla claim that I do not love her?
Indeed, by the ten nights and the pair and the single.
Indeed, and by Him alone who knows the unseen,
Vessels sail across the sea.
Indeed, by Him who called from the mountain
And glorified the days of sacrifice and slaughter.
Layla has surpassed all people, just as
One night has surpassed a thousand months.
I Declare That There Is No Woman But You
The love of Nizar Qabbani for women is illustrated in the following poem:
I declare that there is no woman
Who mastered the game but you.
And you endured my foolishness
For ten years, just as you endured
And groomed my nails,
And organized my notebooks,
And introduced me to kindergarten,
Except for you ..
2
I declare that there is no woman
Who resembles me like an oil painting
In thought and behavior except you,
In reason and madness except you,
In rapid boredom
And swift attachment
Except you ..
I declare that there is no woman
Who has taken from my attention
Half of what you have taken,
And occupied me like you did,
And liberated me like you did.
3
I declare that there is no woman
Who treated me like a two-month-old child
Except you ..
And offered me the milk of a sparrow
And flowers and toys,
Except you ..
I declare that there is no woman
Who was as generous with me as the sea,
As noble as poetry,
And pampered me like you did,
And spoiled me like you did.
I declare that no woman
Has extended my childhood
Into my fifties.. except you.
4
I declare that there is no woman
Who can say she is the essence of womanhood except you,
And in her navel
Is the center of this universe.
I declare that there is no woman
Whom trees follow when she walks,
Except you ..
And the doves drink from the icy water of her body,
Except you ..
And the lambs eat from the summer grass of her armpits,
Except you.
I declare that there is no woman
Who distilled the entire story of femininity
Into two words,
And stirred my masculinity against me,
Except you ..
5
I declare that no woman
Has stopped time at her right breast,
Except you ..
And revolutions arose from the slopes of her left breast,
Except you ..
I declare that there is no woman
Who changed the world’s laws except you,
And changed
The map of the permissible and the forbidden,
Except you ..
6
I declare that no woman
Engulfs me in passionate moments like an earthquake,
Burns me .. drowns me,
Sets me ablaze .. extinguishes me,
Breaks me in half like a crescent moon,
I declare that no woman
Occupies my soul for the longest and happiest of times,
Plants me
With Damascene roses,
And mint,
And oranges.
O woman,
Leave my questions beneath her hair
And have never answered a question,
O woman, the languages all together,
Yet she
Touches the mind but cannot be spoken.
7
O you with the maritime eyes,
And waxen hands,
And magnificent presence,
O you white as silver,
And smooth as crystal,
I declare that no woman
Gathered the ages at her waist
And made a thousand thousand stars revolve,
I declare that no woman but you, my beloved,
On her arms, the first male was raised
And the last male.
8
O you, keen and transparent,
Fair and beautiful,
You are the delightful and splendid,
Forever youthful.
I declare that no woman
Broke free from the rules of the cave dwellers but you,
And smashed their idols,
And dispelled their illusions,
And toppled the authority of the cave dwellers but you.
I declare that no woman
Welcomed the tribe’s daggers upon her chest,
And considered my love for her,
The essence of virtue.
9
I declare that no woman
Came exactly as I awaited,
And her long hair came longer than I wished or dreamed,
And the shape of her breast was
Exactly what I planned or sketched.
I declare that no woman
Emerges from the clouds of smoke .. if she smokes,
Floats like a white dove in my mind .. if I think.
O woman .. I wrote books about you entirely,
Yet in spite of all my poetry,
You remain .. more beautiful than anything I have written.
10
I declare that no woman
Practiced love with me in the most refined manner,
And brought me out of the dust of the third world,
Except you.
I declare that no woman
Before you, loosened my knots,
And refined my body,
And conversed with it as if it were a lute.
I declare that no woman
Except you ..
Except you ..
Except you ..