Poem: To Your Eyes What the Heart Has Experienced
Spoken by Al-Mutanabbi:
For your eyes, what the heart endures and has endured,
And for love, what remains of me and what has faded away.
I was not among those who allow love to enter their hearts,
But whoever gazes upon your eyelids falls in love.
Between contentment and resentment, proximity and distance,
There lies a space for the tears of the fluttering glance.
The sweetest love is what its Lord might doubt,
And in abandonment, it is life that hopes and fears.
Angered by pride, intoxicated by youth,
I plead with her in my youth with sweet whispers.
Having adorned my lips for her, she kissed my forehead,
And gazelle-like maidens with souls so pure, embraced me.
Yet I could not distinguish between those who were careless and those who were bound.
And not everyone who desires maintains virtue when alone.
My chastity pleases love, and the steeds converge.
May God bless the days of youth that please me,
And may they act like an ancient Babylonian
When you wear the world, enjoying it,
Your attire remains unblemished.
I have never seen a glance as intense as theirs on the day of their departure,
They came with every wound from every lover.
Poem: Behold, Let Us Weep for the Memory of a Beloved and a Home
Spoken by Imru’ al-Qais:
Did your love mislead you into thinking that it would be my doom,
And that no matter what you command, my heart must comply?
Your eyes shed tears only to strike
With arrows at the heart of the one who is slain.
A sheltered pearl that cannot be reached,
I enjoyed fleeting moments with it, unhurried.
I crossed boundaries and faced the fears of tribes,
On me, their guardians would place blame for my demise
If the Pleiades in the heavens are aligned,
Aligning themselves and their fine garments that cover.
So I arrived, and it was as if sleep had stripped off its clothing,
Except for the garment of the generous.
She said, “By God, you have no way to escape,”
And I could not see the blindness lifting from you.
I stepped out with her, leading the way,
On our paths, trailing a heavy adorned veil.
When we passed the courtyard of the tribe, and approached,
The belly of a deep valley spread wide embraced us.
If she turned to me, her scent scattered in the breeze,
The fragrant air from the garden approached us.
When I said, “Give to me,” she swayed,
Challenging me with her delicate waist in a gentle embrace.
She is light and pure, unblemished.
Her ribcage resembling fine craftsmanship.
Her skin is a lovely hue that conveys beauty, streamed within light,
And her beauty remains untamed without being denied.
Her navel delicately carved like a palm stalk,
And her braids reaching heights beyond the clouds.
They mislead the stray in both unified and scattered paths,
And her side is slender like the braids curled in.
And her leg, as gentle as the quagmire of water,
And she possesses a gentleness that flows like liquid silk,
As though she is a gazelle, or a swift wind amongst the trees,
Illuminating the darkness at night as if it were
A beacon for a devout hermit.
And the aroma of musk lingers over her bed,
While the noontime has not uttered its benevolence.
To her, he dreams of love endlessly,
And how the evening has quieted the hearts of men,
My youth is tied to her with no separation.
Oh, how many opponents I have had who were silenced,
In my outcry for her, the night became a wave of sorrow.
Night rests upon my soul with countless burdens to bear,
I said to it while it beckoned for me with its remnants,
The burdens on me grew heavier over the years,
Oh, long night! When will you lift your veil?
As the dawn arrives, is it not the ideal release?
Poem: O Friend, Lessen the Blame
Spoken by Jameel Buthaina:
O heart, I cherish you as long as I live, but if I die,
Your echo will follow me among the graves.
To you, I promise what I promised, that the observer shall see,
The sight of the poor longing for the abundance of the rich.
Debts will be settled, yet no promises will be fulfilled,
This adversary we have is not in debt.
What are you and the promise that you give me,
Except like lightning from a cloud that does not rain?
My heart has taken heed; it has turned my wiser words away,
So when you forsake it, you keep multiplying the pain.
Poem: O Gazelle of the Banyan Trees Grazing in Their Groves
Spoken by Al-Sharif Al-Razi:
O gazelle of the banyan trees grazing in their groves,
May you rejoice today; the heart does graze upon you.
Water is abundant where you stand,
And only my weeping tears can quench your thirst.
A breeze has wafted towards us from the depths,
After slumber, we recognized its essence in your presence.
Then we turned as if swept away by joy,
In the saddle, we indulged in your memory.
An arrow struck and its thrower was in Salm,
Who from Iraq has distanced your target.
A promise to your eyes remains unkept,
Oh how near they were, yet my eyes spoke falsehoods to me.
Your glance narrated what had befallen fortunate muses,
On the day of reunion, honor favored the speaker.
As if your eyes, in those fleeting moments, reveal to us,
What names were concealed from your multitude of slain.
To me, you are the bliss of my heart and yet my torment,
So what verdict do you pass upon my heart and your sweetness?
Poem: An Evening Without Guile or Love’s Desire
Spoken by Urwah bin Hizam:
An evening without my heart’s deceit or the desire for love
Lies before me; nor does the strange heart crave my affection.
By Allah, I shall never forget you as long as the breeze stirs,
And what follows of it from the winds of the south.
Woe! It hath turned to bones as if,
It was bewitched by a healer’s incantation.
Beneath this strain of sorrows eclipses a fire,
Which almost causes the tender-hearted to dissolve!
But it lives on, the essence of a story-teller,
Upon what I cling, even with a cross nearby.
And how strange it is the demise of lovers in affection,
Though survival remains for the persistent lover’s longing.
Poem: The Essence of Love Has Invaded My Heart
Spoken by Umar ibn Abi Rabi’ah:
Indeed, love has snuck into your heart,
Like the life blood flowing through the veins.
Poem: Have You Ever Seen Love?
Have you ever seen love, far from the lover’s joy,
So pleasing that every moment feels eternal,
And with every hour that passes, it becomes concealed?
The heart, intoxicated by excessive longing,
And the eyes, burning with the heat of weeping,
Yearning is an ailment that no healer can remedy,
For the wise among us, can be a seer.