To the Unattainable
Lament of Mahomed Akram
I would have taken Golden Stars from the sky for your necklace, I would have shaken rose-leaves for your rest from all the rose-trees.
But you had no need; the short sweet grass sufficed for your slumber, And you took no heed of such trifles as gold or a necklace.
There is an hour, at twilight, too heavy with memory. There is a flower that I fear, for your hair had its fragrance.
I would have squandered Youth for you, and its hope and its promise, Before you wandered, careless, away from my useless passion.
But what is the use of my speech, since I know of no words to recall you? I am praying that Time may teach, you, your Cruelty, me, Forgetfulness.