“At the Red Rise” Muḥyī Al-Dīn Ibn Al-ʿARABī: Poem 57 from Turjumān Al-Ashwāq (Translation of Desires)

“At the Red Rise”

Fragrance of the east wind, bring the gazelles of Najdthis word, that I, as they have come to know me, am faithful

Tell the belle of the tribe we’ll meet in the early morning,Saturday, in the Najdian hills

At the red rise near the stone trailmark to the rightof the flood beds and solitary ruin

If it is true, as you say it is, and she suffersthe same burn of longing for me as I

For her, we’ll shade together from the noonday heatin her tent, in secret, and fulfill the promise we made

We’ll tell of our strivings, our tribulationthe trance of desire, the ache, the fever

Dream fragments? Signs from a sleep bright with promise?Voice of a time that told my good fortune?

May the shepherd of wishes lead them into open dayand their meadow grant me a gathering of roses