CHRISTOPHER MIDDLETON
And that your despair will break the bonds between us.
It's a big mistake you are making,
There's no need for all your noble talk.
Ever since you joined the chase,
You have been leading the pack.
But now you stumble
And are ashamed to be feeling the strain.
For the love of God, at all times
The clouds do show their rain
And orange blossoms open their corollas.
If you understood my reasoning,
You would not reproach me at all.
389
Abu J a'far read the verses, pondered, then exclaimed, "What fools we
are! She alludes to a pavilion in my gardens, let's go!" And sure enough, not
long after they arrived at the pavilion, Hafsa appeared. Abu Ja'far began to
reproach her, but she only spoke another poem:
(6)
When we wine and dine,
Don't throw me the book.
Let me off your hook
And I'll let you off mine.
While Abu Ja'far and Hafsa were amiably conversing, a note was
brought to them from al-Kutandi (a poet and one ofAbu Ja'far's cronies):
0, Abu ja'far, son of illustrious noblefolk,
Alone with your beloved in spite of envious men,
Don't you want to see your friend,
Who is sober, modest, and discreet,
And who knows how
to
keep your hideous secret?
When a lover is with his beloved he spends the night
Given ovel-
to
pleasures with five girls.
AhuJa'far wrote an outraged reply on the back ofal-Kutandi's poem:
If you ever show your face here,
I'll tell you what your crime is.
Would it entertain you to settle yourself
Between my love and me?
If so, what can it be that you want
Except to make me die the sooner?
Well, death, after a long delay,
