I do not need your red sculpted lips,

Nor hair in loops like a serpent’s coils,

Nor a nape as graceful as a swan’s,

Nor narcissus eyes full of drunkenness,

Nor teeth as perfect as pearls of heaven,

Nor cheeks ruddy and full as pomegranates,

Nor a voice mellifluous as a sarinda,

Nor a figure as elegant as a poplar,

But show me just this one thing, my love,

I seek a heart stained like a poppy flower –

Pearls by millions I would gladly cede,

For the sake of tears borne of love and grief.

I do not need your red sculpted lips,

Nor hair in loops like a serpent’s coils,

Nor a nape as graceful as a swan’s,

Nor narcissus eyes full of drunkenness,

Nor teeth as perfect as pearls of heaven,

Nor cheeks ruddy and full as pomegranates,

Nor a voice mellifluous as a sarinda,

Nor a figure as elegant as a poplar,

But show me just this one thing, my love,

I seek a heart stained like a poppy flower –

Pearls by millions I would gladly cede,

For the sake of tears borne of love and grief