And he stood and he sat, and he sat and he stood, and then finally he sat down and stayed still until I was sorry I had even told him the news.
I thought he was going mad, and I didn’t speak to him [lacuna; probably until he had calmed down ] . . . Then he said to me: “And what else?” And I said to him. ‘What more do you want than that?! I told you the news, and you became pale and speechless, and you got all worked up, and you stood up and sat down, and if you had a bit more sense, you wouldn’t have done what you’ve done! By God, you’ve got a feeble brain, and the proof of your feeble brain is that you fell in love with the hajib’s favorite, in the hajib’s own house, knowing his power and his high position and the greatness of his influence and his great love for Riyad and her importance to him, and you being a foreigner, and obviously not from around here. You were really way off base there!”
The Old Woman said: And when he beard chat from me, he fell facedown on the ground, and blood ran down his face, and when I saw- him in that state, I said to myself, “This is indeed a great wrong that I have committed; I gave this poor stranger to eat and to drink and nourished his hopes, and then I cut him off. I should never have encouraged him at all . . And there we were for a while, until he raised his head, with the blood still running from the wound, and when I saw his state, I felt sympathy for him, and he said to me, “Oh, mother, what is the solution to this?!” And I said to him, “Oh, my son, Love without misfortune and shame is only possible through secrecy; indeed, from what we know of great lovers { ethl ctl- ishij ] like Qays and Kuthair and ‘Urwa and the ashdb^ of passion — listing all of them would take forever — they were all put to the test through speaking of their beloveds in poetry, through divulging secrets and making themselves notorious, and they fell into madness and fainting, following the wrong road until they lost all possibility of being pardoned, while of those who conceal their secrets, and veil them, not one thing is known of them! There is no mention of them — a lot of people fall in love but the only ones we know about are the ones who disclose their secrets and make them known.”
The Old Woman said: And he said to me, “Oh, mother, what can I say to you, since you have told the truth? But Love is the invited guest of the honorable, and the ornament of the educated, and the companion of the elegant!” And I said to him, “But what are you going to do? By God, you saw that Riyad is just as weak as you are, and firmly devoted to you. She’s showing all the symptoms of love and conviction. Her Mistress is fond of those who might please her in refinements and pleasures. She requests your attendance for the betterment of her majlis,5 and we have a rendezvous for Friday, God willing. If you attend, control yourself and govern your soul, like one who is owner of his reason, and if you look at anyone, let your gaze be toward the Lady, or at me, as though nothing at all were going on, for the best men are those who measure before cutting, those who plan before acting. If you see that your beloved Riyad is possessed of gravity and silence, and gentleness and discretion, like someone who knows how to control herself, you may have hope of her, but if you see her behaving in a frivolous, flirtatious manner, forget about her and turn your heart from her, for reason is the best of God’s creations and the best of God’s gifts to his servants. Remember my counsel, oh, Bayad!”
(trans. Cynthia Robinson, Medieval Andalusian Courtly Culture in the Mediterranean)