IBN BURD, Bhashar

My heart is possessed by the beauties –

They are my malady and my misery.

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Because of her my night grew long,

And because of her my sorrows lengthened.

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You pages, pour me out a potion, pour me to drink her soft, sweet kisses.

I suffer drought; its healing draught Is drinking from her moist fresh lips.

The smiling corners of her mouth are brilliant as chamomile;

Her speech is like embroidery, a mantle with embroidery

Lodged in the core and kernel of my heart, she is insatiable.

She said to me: 'I'll meet with you a few nights hence.'

But day and night will wear away, and nothing new will come my way.

She is content without me; my portion is sighs to gnaw a heart of steel.

Long has grown my night

Long has grown my night through the love of one

whose nearness is far, whose distance is near.

She has taken hold of my heart, and I

have no power to free it from her grasp.

I call to her, but she does not answer;

I signal to her, but she does not see.

My longing for her is a fire that burns,

and my patience is a garment worn thin.

From a Wine Poem

Bring me the wine whose brightness mocks the dawn,

whose cup is a rising sun in the hand.

It pours like a stream of molten gold,

and the heart grows young when it is drunk.

Let the cup go round among companions

whose talk is gentle, whose laughter is light;

for life is short, and the nights flee quickly,

and only the generous of spirit endure.

From a Love Poem

She passed by, and my heart followed her,

obedient as a slave to its master.

Her glance struck me like an arrow,

and I had no shield against its flight.

If she knew what she has done to me,

she would have mercy on my bewildered state;

but she is proud, and pride is a veil

that hides the truth from the beautiful.

Satirical Lines

I see men boast of virtues they do not possess,

and claim honours they never earned.

If words alone made noble lineage,

the lowliest would be kings among us.

But the world knows the worth of each man,

and time reveals what boasting conceals.

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My ear is in love with some of the living,

sometimes my ear falls in love before the eye,

for sometimes the ear loves before sight even understands.

I did not thirst for cool water,

I thirsted only for the beloved’s face.

Lovers have no cure for their pain except reunion,

come close and heal my heart.

Oh friend, do not ask about my love for her

Fot I loved in the world of love.

The eyes see only what the heart allows

and the ears hear only what the heart desires.

Oh delight of my eyes I hide your name

Yet every name I mention secretly means you

My heart aches from separation from my beloved.

The days of joy pass swiftly,

but the days of sorrow feel endlessly long.

Oh abandoned home by the river banks,

the separation from the one loved has lasted too long.

A man truly lives as long modesty lives within him,

for honor remains as long as dignity survives.

On the Nature of People and Time

I have seen the world reveal men’s true worth,

for time is a mirror that hides nothing.

Many boast of virtues they never possessed,

but the days strip away the borrowed cloak.

The noble man is known by his deeds,

and the ignoble by the noise he makes.

On Moderation and Self ‑ Knowledge

Do not trust the man who praises you too much,

for he seeks from you what he cannot earn.

And do not despise the one who speaks plainly,

for truth is bitter, though it heals the heart.

The wise man knows his own measure,

and walks a path between excess and want.

On Anger and Restraint

I have learned that anger is a fire

that burns first the one who kindles it.

So I turned my face from those who wronged me,

and found peace in the silence of the wise.

For the tongue is a sword without a sheath,

and many fall by its edge.

On Fate and Human Effort

The days turn, and none can halt their turning;

fortune rises and falls like the tide.

But the man who strives with a steady heart

is never wholly defeated by fate.

For effort is the companion of the noble,

and resignation the refuge of the weak.

On Friendship and Loyalty

A friend is not the one who smiles in ease,

but the one who stands firm in hardship.

Many gather when the table is full,

but few remain when the lamp grows dim.

Choose the companion who shares your burden,

not the one who shares your wine.