There Was A Time When I Loved Alone

There was a time when I loved alone Without dream or friend There was a time when your love was untrue When I endured such torment that I don't remember anything now but There was a river ... or a villa ... You confused my heart so much That love shrank to a riddle Yet had I been the slightest bit disloyal You would almost have taken my life Time is like the snakes Devouring jasmine in my courtyard Who can I tell, this sad evening How bright the line of fate once was on my hand? [Translated by Nukhbah Langah and Lavinia Greenlaw]