Chapter 5

The Torment of Separation

1 “1I have acome into my garden, bmy sister, my bride;

I have gathered my cmyrrh along with my balsam.

I have eaten my honeycomb 2and my dhoney;

I have edrunk my wine 2and my milk.

Eat, ffriends;

Drink and 3imbibe deeply, O lovers.”

2 “1I was asleep but my heart was awake.

A voice! My beloved was knocking:

‘Open to me, amy sister, my darling,

bMy dove, my perfect one!

For my head is 2drenched with dew,

My clocks with the 3damp of the night.’

3 “I have ataken off my dress,

How can I put it on again?

I have bwashed my feet,

How can I dirty them again?

4 “My beloved extended his hand through the opening,

And my 1afeelings were aroused for him.

5 “I arose to open to my beloved;

And my hands adripped with myrrh,

And my fingers with 1liquid myrrh,

On the handles of the bolt.

6 “I opened to my beloved,

But my beloved had aturned away and had gone!

My 1heart went out to him as he bspoke.

I csearched for him but I did not find him;

I dcalled him but he did not answer me.

7 “The awatchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,

They struck me and wounded me;

The guardsmen of the walls took away my shawl from me.

8 “I aadjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

If you find my beloved,

As to what you will tell him:

For bI am lovesick.”

9 “1, 2What kind of beloved is your beloved,

O amost beautiful among women?

2What kind of beloved is your beloved,

That thus you adjure us?”

Admiration by the Bride

10 “1My beloved is dazzling and aruddy,

2bOutstanding among ten thousand.

11 “His head is like gold, pure gold;

His alocks are like clusters of dates

And black as a raven.

12 “His aeyes are like doves

Beside streams of water,

Bathed in milk,

And 1reposed in their bsetting.

13 “His cheeks are like a abed of balsam,

Banks of sweet-scented herbs;

His lips are blilies

cDripping with liquid myrrh.

14 “His hands are rods of gold

Set with aberyl;

His abdomen is carved ivory

Inlaid with 1bsapphires.

15 “His legs are pillars of alabaster

Set on pedestals of pure gold;

His appearance is like aLebanon

Choice as the bcedars.

16 “His 1amouth is full of sweetness.

And he is wholly bdesirable.

This is my beloved and this is my friend,

O daughters of Jerusalem.”