صباح الورد

Notes

1. Ṣabāḥ al-ward, 'a morning of roses', is an everyday affectionate greeting, like ṣabāḥ al-khayr, 'good morning'. The poet reverses it into ward al-ṣabāḥ, 'rose of the morning', calling her by the same words turned round (ʿaks). ↩
2. Wird, written like ward, 'rose', is the watering-place to which thirsty herds and travellers come; it is also a devotional portion recited daily. She is the place his heart goes to drink, day after day. ↩
3. Rāḥa, 'ease, rest', rāḥ, 'wine', and in the second half-verse rawāḥ, 'coming home at evening', are all of a family in sound. Ghuduww, 'going out at dawn', and rawāḥ form a contrasting pair (ṭibāq) meaning 'all day long'. ↩
4. Fadaytuki, 'I would ransom you (with myself)', is a traditional formula of deep devotion, much like 'may I die for you'. ↩
5. The last two verses use the language of Islamic law. Junāḥ, 'sin, blame', recalls the Qur'anic formula lā junāḥa ʿalaykum, 'there is no blame on you', which grants a permission; mubāḥ is the jurists' term for what is permitted. The lover pleads his case like a jurist, with a playful smile: an embrace such as this is lawful, so why withhold it? The legal wording implies that the woman he addresses is lawfully his. ↩