translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

Allah, my sleep is woven through, it seems, 
With burning threads of night and golden beams; 
     But when my dreams are evil they come true; 
When they are not, they are, alas! but dreams. 

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.