LIV: Whereas I discovered the science of the alchemy…

Whereas I discovered the science of the alchemy of love,
Therefore, this earthy form of mine hath sallow become.

When the fair, their spells and incantations commence,
They cast burthens upon the back of forbearance and control.

With prayers upon my lips, I fell in love in my heart
Verily, the lion hath devoured me, whilst seated by the hearth.

It heareth not the wails of the nightingale in the parterre;
For this reason the mountain partridge laugheth so loudly.

I have sunk down, to this degree, in the ocean of love,
That I remember not whether I am of the sea, or of the land.

So sore distressed am I, with dried up heart and humid eyes,
That Majnun seemed insignificant and contemptible to me.

The bitterness of separation will not pass down my throat,
Notwithstanding I eat, along with it, the sugar of association.

Tears too, in the time of adversity, severed themselves from me
Alas, one's own, as well as strangers, are but prosperity's friends!

How wonderfully gorgeous thou makest simple things, O Hamid!
May thy penetrating conceptions never come under the evil eye!