LIII: By the laughter of the happy and the…

By the laughter of the happy and the gay, I vow!
And by the lamentations of the woe-begone, I vow!

By the inebriation of the intoxicated with wine;
And by the piety and abstinence of the monk, I vow!

By the hundred transports of meeting and association,
And by the thousand miseries of separation, I vow!

By the beautiful and fragrant roses of the spring,
And by the sweet melodies of the nightingales, I vow!

Compared to which the graceful cypress is as nothing,
By that tall stature, and form symmetrical, I vow!

That are tinged with the antimony of expression,
By those dark narcissus-like eyes, I vow!

That which is more slender, even, than a hair,
By that delicately slight waist of thine, I vow!

On account of which, lovers pine away and die,
By that beauty, and by that elegance, I vow!

By that which cometh from the direction of the beloved--
By the balmy breath of the morning breeze, I vow!

Who is the bearer of the message for an interview,
By the footsteps of that bearer of glad tidings, I vow!

In the which there is not the least insincerity,
By the truthfulness of the true and sincere, I vow!

With the whole of these many oaths and protestations,
A hundred thousand times again and again, I vow

That I love thee far more dearly than life itself;
And this, by thyself, I, Khushhal, Khattak, vow!