He came forth to visit meshrouding himself in the cloak of the nightAnd hastened his stepsas he wendedfor caution and fear and affright.
Then rose I and laid in his pathway my cheekas a carpet it wereFor abjectionand trailed o'er my traces my skirts，to efface them from sight.
But lothe new moon rose and shonelike a nail-paring cleft from the nailAnd all but discovered our loves with the gleam of her meddlesome light.
And then there betided between us what I'll not discoveri'faith： So question no more of the matter and deem not of ill or unright.
And a fourth：
Foregather with thy loverwhilst night your loves may screen；For that the sun's a telltalethe moon a go-between.
And a fifth：
I love not white womenwith fat blown out and overlaid；The girl of all girls for me is the slender dusky maid.
Let others the elephant mountif it like them；as for meI'll ride but the fine-trained colt on the day of the cavalcade.
And a sixth：
My loved one came to me by night And we did clip and interlace And lay together through the dark；Butlothe morning broke apace.
To Godmy LordI pray that He Will reunite us of His grace And make night last to mewhat while I hold my love in my embrace.
Were I to set forth all the praise of blacknessI should be tedious；but little and enough is better than great plenty and too much. As for theeO blondethy colour is that of leprosy and thine embrace is suffocation；and it is of report that frost and intense cold are in Hell for the torment of the wicked. Againof black things is inkwherewith is written the word of God；and were is not for black ambergris and black musk，there would be no perfumes to carry to kings. How many glories are there not in blackness and how well saith the poet：
Dost thou not see that muskindeedis worth its weight in gold，Whilst for a dirhem and no more a load of lime is sold？
Black eyes cast arrows at men's hearts；but whiteness of the eyesIn manis judged of all to be unsightly to behold.'
'It sufficeth，'said her master. 'Sit down.'So she sat down and he signed to the fat girlwho rose and pointing at the slim girluncovered her arms and legs and bared her stomachshowing its creases and the roundness of her navel. Then she donned a shift of fine stuffthat showed her whole bodyand said，'Praised be God who created mefor that He beautified my face and made me fat and fair and likened me to branches laden with fruit and bestowed upon me abounding beauty and brightness；and praised be He no lessfor that He hath given me the precedence and honoured mewhen He speaks of me in His holy book！ Quoth the Most High'And he brought a fat calf.'And indeed He hath made me like unto an orchardfull of peaches and pomegranates.
Verilythe townsfolk long for fat birds and eat of them and love not lean birds；so do the sons of Adam desire fat meat and eat of it. How many precious attributes are there not in fatnessand how well saith the poet：
Take leave of thy lovefor the caravanindeedis on the start. O mancanst thou bear to say farewell and thus from her to part？
'Tis as her going wereI trowbut to her neighbour's house，The faultless gait of a fat fair maidthat never tires the heart.
Sawst thou ever one stop at a butcher's stallbut sought fat meat of him？ The wise say'Pleasure is in three thingseating flesh and riding on flesh and the thrusting of flesh into flesh.'As for theeO thin onethy legs are like sparrow's legs or pokersand thou art like a cruciform plank or a piece of poor meat；there is nought in thee to gladden the heart；even as saith of thee the poet：
Now God forfend that aught enforce me take for bedfellow A woman like a foot-raspwrapt in palm-fibres and tow！
In every limb she has a hornthat butts me in my sleepSo that at day-breakbruised and soreI rise from her and go.'
'It is enough，'quoth her master. 'Sit down.'So she sat down and he signed to the slender girlwho roseas she were a willow-wand or a bamboo-shoot or a plant of sweet basiland said'Praised be God who created me and beautified me and made my embraces the end of all desire and likened me to the branch，to which all hearts incline. If I riseI rise lightly；if I sitI sit with grace；I am nimble-witted at a jest and sweeter-souled than cheerfulness [itself]. Never heard I one describe his mistresssaying'My beloved is the bigness of an elephant or like a long wide mountain；'but rather'My lady hath a slender waist and a slim shape.'
A little food contents me and a little water stays my thirst；my sport is nimble and my habit elegant；for I am sprightlier than the sparrow and lighter-footed than the starling. My favours are the desire of the longing and the delight of the seeker；for I am goodly of shapesweet of smile and graceful as the willow-wand or the bamboo-cane of the basil-plant；nor is there any can compare with me in graceeven as saith one of me：
Thy shape unto the sapling liken I And set my hope to win thee or to die.
DistraughtI follow theeand sore afraidLest any look on thee with evil eye.
