6
Though dust, and dark as dust, am I, I have a little heart, whereby With vision open as a star I gaze on beauty from afar.
Praying Thy fingers may caress, Unuttered is my heart’s distress; And Thou supposest that maybe My lyre has lost its minstrelsy.
Do Thou so quicken my desire That, with a melody of fire, I may the earthy heart make bright, And wholly melt the heart of light.
The burning fever of my breed Is symptom of my so great need; Thou, who art God, and lackest naught, Know’st not the anguish in me wrought,
I never sought to make this plain Or keep it hid from any man; My secret has itself displayed, And so my melody was made.
07
With a song of agony, With a sweet, soft melody, To a dying world athirst Lo: life’s flagon I have burst.
In the way as beggars are Thou hast set that world ajar Ere the ambition to attain Ever sprang in mortal brain.
‘Twas Thy surmah shaded eye Heart and soul were ravished by; O, the archery of it, With one shaft two marks to hit!
What a springtime of delight Greets my underserving sight! Hear me in the meadow sing, Like a new thrush caroling.
Not so strange, if monarchs, twain In one kingdom cannot reign, As that both the worlds are less Than one dervish to possess.
08
On faith and infidelity O scatter wide Thy Clemency; At last the veil of darkness raise From the full splendour of Thy Face.
Play once again the ancient song, And swiftly pass the wine along; Let the flame fever of Thy cup Irradiate us as we sup.
Why, with Thy ringlets for a snare, Forth to the garden dost Thou fare, When on Thy roof a bird there be, More worthy of Thy venery?
Expectant waits the Iraqi sand, Athirst is Hijaz’ desert land; To Syria and Kufa give Husain’s spilled blood, that they may live.
Love spurneth the attendant guide, Alone upon the way he’ll ride, Nor yield to any man’s control The reining of his stubborn soul.
To convent foolishly I went, Upon that threshold to lament, Until I found my road to be Direct unto God’s sanctuary.
Behold this lone bird on the wing, First of the caravan of Spring, Who in his solitary cage Carols the message of his age!
09
A flame is in my minstrelsy, A fearlessness, a tragedy; A spark is smouldering in my corn, And sprightly blows the breath of morn.
Love keeps no state, no manner grand. And yet an axe is in Love’s hand Wherewith the mountain’s heart is hued All innocent of Parviz’ blood.
It pricked my heart, this subtlety An orator once told to me: ‘The loved one’s glance hath more to teach Than all the wizardry of speech.’
Come to my pillow once again; Sit for one moment; for the pain Of separation wracks my soul, My cup of loneliness is full.
Awhile into the mead I came, Naked my anguished spirit’s flame; The breeze of morning fiercer blew, My heart was sprinkled o’er with dew.
The secret sign will overset The lover’s shrine entire; and yet It is the fearless glance I need That makes the lovers’ heart to bleed.
Water’s the seat of both, and clay; What is the mystery then, I pray, The mind doth like the clay right well, But there the heart is loth to dwell?
Behold, and see! in Ind’s domain Thou shalt not find the like again, That, though a Brahman’s son I be, Tabriz and Rum stand wide to me.
10
The eyes and heart that I have take such delight in view— What is my fault if I should carve idols out of rough stone?
For all Your manifest glory You are veiled— You cannot suffer looks! Tell me, my moon, what is my recourse other than lament?
What harm would come if You strolled by the lodgings of a caravan, Whose only unworthy possession is a little, broken heart?
I sang out a ghazal, hoping that expression would bring relief— The flame does not die down with one spark breaking off.
The livinmg heart You gave me is ill at ease with veils— Give me an eye that will see the fire in the rock.
Every piece of my heart shares in the joy it gives— How did You vest Your sorrow in a heart of a thousand pieces?
High waves never wrecked anyone’s boat in the sea; The danger that love sees lies in the safety of the shore.
With a stately disregard I passed by the lords of the world— Like a full moon passing by the stars.