I was asked: What ambition shows and hides

When I appear, in my going and my returning?

I said: Love of mankind, always, all of them —

Toward them my inclination ever grows.

I was asked: What ambition? I said: All creation —

In my blood, in my trembling, and in my sleep.

I shall fall asleep, and every breast shall be my breast,

And the farthest regions shall have become my regions.

I shall fall asleep, and every mouth shall be my mouth,

Where long devotion then grows sweet.

•

I shall fall asleep in the intoxication of love, until

The sun rises tomorrow from my ribs.

«The American University of Beirut»

The flowers ask about her —

Why her fragrance is so sweet,

And about the scent of her footsteps,

Over which the leaves bend tenderly,

And how it gathered up her radiance

And stole from her splendor.

She embraces the sun in glory,

With a pride that never rebels;

No brow has ever moistened,

No conscience ever slipped.

You are the foster-child of purity —

You have lulled a sleepless eyelid.