The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Vol. 5

Lion of the wilderness, will you murder me,
Before I meet her who condemned me to slavery?
I am not prey, and I carry no fat;
For the loss of my love makes me suffer sickness original: "dree," to endure or suffer.;
And being separated from her has so worn me down
That I am like a ghost in a shroud.
O you Father of Spoils original: "Abú Háris," one of the many traditional Arabic titles for a lion., O you Lion of War,
Do not let my pains satisfy those who criticize me.
I burn with love; I am drowned in tears
From the misery of parting from my lover!
And my thoughts are hers in the darkness of night,
For love has made my very existence cease to be.

When he had finished his verses, the lion rose—And Shahrazad noticed the dawn of day and stopped her allowed speech.

Now when the Three Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Night arrived,

She said, "It has reached me, O fortunate King, that when Uns al-Wujud finished his verses, the lion rose and walked slowly up to him. Its eyes were streaming with tears as it licked him with its tongue. Then it walked ahead of him, gesturing as if to say, 'Follow me.' So he followed the lion, and the beast continued leading him for a while until it brought him up a mountain. It guided him to the far side, where he found the tracks of a caravan crossing the desert. He recognized them as the tracks of Rose-in-Hood original: "Al-Ward fi al-Akmam," often translated as "Rose-in-Bud." and her companions.

He followed the trail; when the lion saw that he recognized the track of the party escorting her, it turned back and went on its way. Uns al-Wujud followed the footprints day and night until they brought him to a crashing sea, swollen with clashing waves. The trail led down to the sandy shore and ended there; because of this, he knew they had taken a ship and continued their journey by water. He lost hope of finding his lover, and with hot tears, he recited these couplets:

The temple original: "fane," a sacred place or destination. is far away and my patience fails me;
How can I seek her The original text uses "them," a poetic convention in Arabic to refer to a single beloved with high respect. across the bottomless sea?
Or how can I be patient when my heart burns
For love of her, and sleep has turned into insomnia?
Since the sad day she left home and fled,
My heart has been consumed by the fire of love."