So I said, "By Allâh! thou deservest praise. Allâh has richly endowed thee, O madman!"
Upon this, he seized hold of something to throw at me; so I placed myself at a distance from him. Then he exclaimed, "I recited to thee what thou dost like and approve, and thou sayest to me, 'O madman !' and dost league thyself with Fate against me!"
"I have done wrong," I said. To which he replied, "Thou art forgiven, having confessed thy fault;" and presently added, "Shall I recite to thee another poem?" I said, "Yes." So he began, saying:
What slays more than separation from the beloved?
And what more fills the lover's heart with woe?
I myself brought to myself this pain,
Which has surely o'ercome both heart and brain.[1]
Alas! that I pass the night a captive
Between two rivals-grief and wakefulness."
Then I said to him, "Thou hast done excellently, by Allâh! let us hear more."
So he continued:
Did they search me, burnt would they find my heart;
Or unclothe me, consumed would be seen my flesh.
What is in me has weakened me and increased my grief,
But to no one will I my misery unfold.
- ↑ Literally, liver. Arab poets suppose the liver to be the seat of love, and the heart to be that of reason. In European poetry, love resides in the heart, and reason in the head.
