Thou that art gifted with glances that make mankind thy slaves,
Pray we may come off scathless from the sorcery of thine
eyes.
Two opposites, fire, incarnate in shining splendour of flame, And
water, thy cheek uniteth, conjoined in wondrous wise.
How dulcet and yet how bitter thou art to my heart, alack! To
which thou at once and ever art Hell and Paradise!
When she heard this, she rejoiced with an exceeding joy; then,
dismissing her women, she brought me to a most goodly place,
where they had spread us a bed of various colours. She did off
her clothes and I had a lover's privacy of her and found her an
unpierced pearl and a filly no man had ridden. So I rejoiced in
her and repeated the following verses:
Stay with us, Night, I prithee! I want no morning white; The face
of my beloved sufficeth me for light.
I gave my love, for chin-band, my palm spread open wide And eke
for ringdove's collar, my arms about him dight.
This is indeed th' attainment of fortune's topmost height! We
clip and clip and care not to stir from our delight.
Never in my life knew I a more delightful night than this, and I
abode with her a whole month, forsaking shop and home and family,
till one day she said to me, "O light of my eyes, O my lord
Mohammed, I have a mind to go to the bath to-day; so sit thou on
this couch and budge not from thy place, till I return to thee.
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