A Secret Kiss

Someone once asked me how old I was,

having seen my advanced age turning to gray at my temples

and in the locks along my forehead.

I answered, "One hour. For verely, I count the time I have lived for nothing"

He replied, "What do you mean? Explain.

Here is indeed the most moving of things"

I said : "One day, by surprise, I stole a kiss, a secret kiss, 

from her who has my heart. 

However many days may number, I shall count only that brief moment, 

for it was truly my entire life"

Ibn Hazm

Andalusian Writer (994-1064)

Tawq al-Hamama (The Dove's Neck Ring)

The Ant In Love

Walking one day in a Lonely place, King Solomon chanced upon an ant hill. 

All the ant immediately came out by the thousands to hail the King. 

Only one of their number took notice of him, 

for it was busy carrying of grain by grain the enormous pile of sand rising before it. 

King Solomon called the insect before him and said:

" O tiny ant, even with the longevity of Noah and the Patience of Job, 

you will never make this mountain of sand disappear!" 

"O great king," said the ant, "Do not regard my size alone...

but take heed my ardor as well. Behind this mound stands my beloved. 

Nothing shall stop me from leveling it. And if I must lose my life, 

at least I shall die in the hope of reaching her." 

O King, learn from an ant what the power of love is, 

learn from a blind man the secret of vision.

                                                                                           Farid al-Din Attar

                                                                                           Persian mystic poet

                                                                                           (died c. 1230)