Hai aarmidagi mein nekohish baja mujhe

This quietude is a deserved rebuke, I find; My homeland’s dawn, a smile that bares its teeth.

My soul now seeks a singer breathing fire, Whose voice is the bright lightning of my end.

I cross the valley of my thoughts in drunken haste, Leaving no purpose for a path retraced.

You are so shameless in the garden’s light, The rose’s scent now makes me shy of its delight.

My heart’s affair would have remained unknown, But my own chosen poems have brought me shame.

There, colors hide behind a veil of careful thought; Here, a henna leaf is a flame my soul has caught.

My flights are offerings to my Friend’s great beauty; A familiar gaze is a wing, spread out for me.

In self-effacement, silence is a sin; A wave of kohl-dust is a voice within.

How long must I endure this low desire? O Lord, grant my praying hands the power to rise higher.

When I, Asad, begged madness for its art, It gave one plunge into my bleeding heart.

The morning candle’s twisted, dying flame Is my own breath, dissolving in its shame.

In this rose season, food and drink are banned; The morning breeze is a snapped sacred thread.

Just once, a test of worldly lust is right; O surge of Love, bring wine that proves a man's true might.