A Declaration of Longing

One night my longing ambushed me, and grief set my heart boiling from within. My body wrapped itself in the belt of an unbeliever, and my restless heart stirred up chaos in the world. I became a total stranger to reason, mad like those drugged on opium. Like her curling hair, I made restlessness my habit, and took to wailing, sighing, and lament. I scattered bloody tears from my lashes, and with that water I tried to douse the fire in my heart. I found no rest from crying out and weeping, and I had no fear of insult or disgrace. My clamor left the ear of the heavens stunned, and the smoke of my sighs darkened the sky. Again and again I tasted the poison of separation, and drew a line of erasure through my own existence. All night my task was to circle my beloved's dwelling, like a pilgrim rounding the Kaaba of the soul. My inmost self whispered its secrets to her image, and, burning, read out these verses once again.