Hafsa wrote these poems in the 12th century about her lover, Abu Ja'far, who was eventually killed by a political and romantic rival. Taken together, they track the course of Hafsa's feelings, from sweet romance to deepest mourning. You can read more about Hafsa and Abu Ja'far in my essay here.
A guest has come with a gazelle neck
Greedy from his lovingness in union.
I wonder if your permission will be his rescuer.
Or if you are too preoccupied with your labour.
I praise those lips because I
Speak knowledge and utter truth
And I am fair to them. I don’t lie, by God, that
I sipped from them saliva that was finer than wine.
If he was not a star when he was my observer,
Will I be in the dark without his light?
Salaam to all of your charms from one who is sad
I am far away from his excellence and the sweetness of his joy.
Ask the rumbling thundercloud and the stillness of night
If it sheltered my darling, if he remembers my weakness.
On my life, he has given my heart a beat
And rained on me from the well of his eyelid-clouds.
A salaam takes off the flowers’
Masks and teaches the leaves on the branches to speak
About a migrant who has settled down in my gut.
Even if your eyes are forbidden from seeing him,
Don’t assume the distance will make him forget you
For that, by God, will never be.
I will jealously steal you from my leader’s eyes,
and from yourself, and from your time and place.
And if I could hide you in my eyes
until Judgement Day, it wouldn’t be enough.
Upon your life, the gardens did not delight with our arrival,
but showed us malice and envy.
The river didn’t applaud, satisfied with our presence,
and the turtle dove only cooed lovelessly.
So don’t trust this thought that you are familiar with
because it is what every leading citizen believes.
What I thought is that the horizon showed its stars
Only to spy on us.
They threatened me because of mourning clothes
for a darling that they destroyed so I would mourn.
God have mercy on those who are generous with tears
or who weep for a victim of rivalry.
She held onto him as generously as he held onto her
At the place where he joined the land without want.