Apology

We present this work in honor of the first day of Ramadan.

Ibrahim Ibn Uthman
Arab Andalusian
12th century

 

Don’t cross me off as fickle
because a singing voice
has captured my heart.

One must be serious sometimes
and lighthearted at other times:

like wood from which come
both the singer’s lute
and the warrior’s bow.

Translation by Cola Franzen

One thought on “Apology

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.