Number 3

Every moment she shows her face like a new fairy, so that each instant she pulls my collar from another direction. I will not take back my heart from her hand, for that soul of the world keeps asking my heart for another act of tenderness each moment. How can anyone claim to be free when the wind drags him, every moment, into the chains of yet another lock of her hair? When in his whole life could he ever find peace of mind, when every moment brings him another troubled face to adore? How can I bow my head at the prayer niche to worship, when at every instant a new arched eyebrow is my direction of prayer? How can I be content with one aspect, when the beauty of her face keeps showing me another face from every angle? Do not look for that graceful cypress by a single stream, for every moment she is strolling gracefully by another one. If you saw her radiant with one beauty on some street, turn around and you will find her with a different beauty on another street. Even though she has no color and no scent at all, I see her every moment in another color and another scent. She had told Maghrebi: you must take on my ways. But how can he take them on, when she has another mood every moment?