Another beautiful poem by al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf, ‘Afīf al-dīn al-Tilimsānī’s son, chock-full of badī’, smooth and musical. I have both nearness and distance in loving you while yours is a beauty rare and wonderful You whose beauty seeks refuge in your majesty beware of the jealous eyes afflicting you If you are not my eye, then…
Anything but your beauty is forbidden to my gaze / The tale of my love for you is ancient
Another beautiful pair of Arabic poems; the first by the Yemeni Sufi poet ‘abd al-Hādī al-Sūdī (d. 1526) has an opening similar to the two poems in the previous post (by al-Nabulusi and al-Tilimsani), and show signs of being modeled on al-Tilimsani’s; the latter poem is by al-Tilimsani’s son, al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf (“The Cool Kid”) and…
My eyes only see your beauty
This beautiful poem by the Damascene Sufi scholar ‘abd al-Ghani al-Nābulusi (d. 1143/1731), is a favorite among singers. But as he writes in his dīwān, it is based on two verses from an earlier poem, which his friends showed him and asked him to expand. These verses are found in some versions of 1001 Nights,…