the sun at midnight – you...BY Khusrau

See, I tried everything, went everywhere,
But never found a friend as dear as you;

Drank from all the fountains, tried the grapes,
But never tasted wine as sweet as you.

I studied hundred learned manuscripts;
In every letter I saw only you.

I washed away the letters with my tears;
A mirror was the shining page for you.

I heard your voice in the rustling breeze;
The snow, the grass were lovely veils for you;

I divided the ocean without shore;
The lustrous pearls reflected only you.

Then came the storm.
The garden of my heart
Was shivering in the cold,
all leaves were shed.

There was the desert.
And the barren cloud.
And silence. And
the sun at midnight – you.

~ Khusrau
(The sun at midnight)
Art by Alberto Pancorbo

I Asked...................! by Amir Khusrow Dehlawi

I asked, ‘What’s bright as the Moon?’
‘My beautiful face,’ was the answer.
I said, ‘What’s sweet as sugar?’
‘My speech,’ was the answer.

‘What is the way of Lovers?’ I asked
‘The way of loyalty,’ was the answer.
I said, ‘Don’t be so cruel to me.’
‘It’s my job to behave thus,’ was the answer.

‘What is death for Lovers?’
‘Separation from me,’ was the answer.
‘What is the cure for life’s ills?’
‘To gaze upon my face,’ was the answer.

‘What is spring, what autumn?’
‘Only my changing beauty,’ was the answer.
‘Who is the envy of the gazelle?’
‘My swift gait,’ was the answer.

‘Are you a fairy or a houri?’
‘I am the Lord of Beauty,’ was the answer.
‘Khusrow is helpless,’ I said.
‘He is my devotee,’ was the answer.

I said, ‘Don’t be so cruel to me.’
‘It’s my job to behave thus,’ was the answer.

Ah, the trials of lovers…

‘I am the Lord of Beauty,’ was the answer.

~ Amir Khusrow Dehlawi