By Umm al-Dahhak al-Muharibiyya:

I asked the lovers who had borne

the torments of this love in ages past,

And said to them: what drives love out, once

it has lodged between the ribs and the breast?

They said: love's cure is another love that removes it,

or a long absence upon parting,

Or despair, until the soul forgets

what it had hoped for — and despair is an aid to patience.

And also by her:

I see that love does not perish; it did not pass over the first ones

who lived in ages gone by,

And every one of them fancied it filled

his whole heart — so they tell it in verse.

Love is but the hearing of an ear, and a glance,

and the heart's yearning at some word, some mention;

And were it anything else in passion,

it would wear a man away with ardor, though he were made of rock.

By 'Ashraqa al-Muharibiyya:

I raced with the lovers on passion's course,

outstripped them all, and came in at my ease;

The lovers have put on no robes of passion,

nor cast any off, but the garments I had worn threadbare;

Nor have they ever drunk a cup of love,

bitter or sweet, but their drink was what I left behind.