I learned it from her, oh, how I wish
If only she had taught me love despite the teacher
The sweetest of sciences, if I were to complete it
She desires my continued apprenticeship
Love is the highest blessing bestowed upon us
In it lies the heart's joy, or in it lies nourishment
I have lived a lifetime in the labyrinths of hardship
If I were to recite love poetry, they would say: This is raving
I feared the tremors of passion Since childhood,
I have heard reproaches from this one and that one.
If I say: I practiced love willingly,
they cry: Enough! Enough! Enough! This is a disgrace!
When I kindled my words with a kiss,
I feared being nullified and cast out.
They said: In his eyes is a love that is unbelieving,
So let us steal love and rain it down upon him.
A wretched East, out of step with its time,
Fears love in the light. And pleasure
Sex, he decreed, is terrifying and abhorrent
Neither religion nor the Lord of fragrance approves of it
But secretly he gains power over
A woman he bought to inflict pain upon
Mirrors tell a tale of his depravity
That might shame doors and windows
Look at him... a strange, laughable form
If he sees the dress, he will immediately turn away
His hollow teeth have become A coal-colored thing
And good fortune, if it doesn't bare its teeth
All people meet their friends
And our East is still a place of sorcery
**
