بوابات

Knowing that you are my first love

But not my only passion

Have thanks for giving

In a single moment the refreshment

Of a journey’s end, at Mecca or

Jerusalem, the cool water that

Staunches a man’s desire.

Knowing that you are my last passion,

My only love, I have praise

For your eyes and lips and for

The parts of you that move sensually

In my imagination, like the

Girls of Lahore on sweet July evenings

With the smell of jasmine in their hair

And breath tinted with ripe mango.

Knowing that love and passion

Flow together, I have songs

That flow from Allah who took

Dry earth from the desert

and purest water

From the springs near Jericho

And shaped you as a wish,  أمنيا

A living soul seeking paradise

Through the gates of love and passion.