Night was desolate, the atmosphere’s breath heavy;

Shadows of nameless sorrows hung over my soul;

My heart insisted you come to comfort me;

My thought was that I, a wretch, might fall asleep.

.

For a long time, the starlight pricked my eyes; 

For a long time, my mind smouldered in loneliness; 

But you didn’t come the whole night 

To ask about your spurned friend.

.

Suddenly your voice came from somewhere

As the waterfall would burst forth rending the mountain’s heart;

Or, restless for the love of the earth suddenly,

A daring star would shoot from the sky.

.

Money was dissolved in the bitter potion of loneliness; 

A color spread in the dark chamber of the heart; 

For a long time, your drunken voices kept echoing 

Like buds bursting out into flowers in the wilderness.

.

You were far away in some happy gathering;

Even then I felt as if you had come to me

And, prevailing upon my lost dreams, my estranged sleep

Has brought them back concealed in your songs.

.

On night’s surface emerged the lines of your face: 

The same quiet eyes, the same simple glance, 

The same fallen veil, the same swirl of the gait, 

The same delicate form swaying every now and then.

.

You’re not with me and yet till dawn 

Each of your breaths passed by touching my body; 

When I’d see you, dew would drip drop by drop; 

Each moment passed by, fragrant with your scent.

.

Now, if this is what you want, then, O soul of my peace,

I won’t wait for you in the dark night!

My craving eyes will seek you out

In the surging rains of song and poetry!

.

Now whenever your love torments me, my life

Will dissolve into your intoxicated voice,

And the soul, restless for you,

Will become a song and quiver upon your lips.

.

Your songs, absorbing the coolness of your beauty! 

Will come into my fiery surroundings 

And, whether for a few moments or forever, 

Will put my restless night to sleep.

.

From: Kulliyāt-i sāḥir (Complete Works of Sahir). Dihlī: Nāz Pablishing Hā’ūs. 1995. pp. 147 – 50