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78 THE TARJUMAX AL-ASHWAQ (XVl)

4. When she turned her bacK with the pui’pose of making
for al-Khawarnaq and as-Sadir,
5. I cried out after them, ‘ Perdition ! ’ She answered and
said, ‘ Dost thou invoke perdition ?
6. Then invoke it not only once, but cry “ Perdition ! ” man}'
times.’
7. 0 dove of the ardJc trees, have a little pity on me ! for
parting only increased thy moans,
8. And thy lamentation, O dove, inflames the longing lo\*er,
excites the jealous,
9. Melts the heart, drives off sleep, an.d doubles our desires
and sighing.
10. Death hovers because of the dove’s lamentation, and we
beg him to spare us a little while,
11. That perchance a breath from the zephyr of Hajir may
sweep towards us rain-clouds,
12. By means of which thou wilt satisfy thii’sty souls; but
thy clouds only flee farther than before.
13. 0 watcher of the star, be my boon-companion, and
O wakeful spy on the lightning, be my nocturnal
comrade !
14. O sleeper in the night, thou didst welcome sleep and
inhabit the tombs ere thy death.
15. But hadst thou been in love with the fond maiden, thou
wouldst have gained, through her, happiness and joy,
16. Giving to the fair (women) the wines of intimacy, con­
versing secretly with the suns, and flattering the full
are the actions which they are charged to perform, ‘ the
moons.
C o m m e n t a r y
1.
‘ The camels ’ are the human faculties, ‘ the howdahs ’

damsels’ in the howdahs are the mystical sciences and the
perfect sorts of knowledge.
3. He says, ‘ This Divine subtlety, being acquired and not
given directly, is subject to a change produced by contact
with phenomena ’ ; this change he indicates by speaking of
her henna-tipped fingers ’, as though it were the modification