"In Battle" by Abu-L-Hasan Ben Al-Qabturnuh

In Battle


I remembered Sulayma when the passion
           of battle was as fierce
as the passion of my body when we parted.

I thought I saw, among the lances, the tall
           perfection of her body,
and when they bend toward me I embraced them.


       By Abu-L-Hasan Ben Al-Qabturnuh, translated by Lysander Kemp


Source of the text - An Anthology of Medieval Lyrics, edited by Angel Flores.  New York: The Modern Library, 1962, p. 290-291.

TJB: Everything he sees reminds him of her. The passion of love & passion of battle converge in this implied-narrative lyric spoken after death.