In the desert of loneliness, my love, tremble 

Your voice’s shadow, your lips’ mirage;

In the desert of loneliness, under twigs and dust of distance 

Bloom your rose-jasmine arms.

Somewhere—nearby—rises the warmth of your breath,

Smouldering slowly in its own fragrance.

Far away—beyond the horizon—shining, drop by drop,

Falls the dew of your loving glance.

With so much love, my love, your memory

Has placed its hands on my heart’s cheek,

And though the morning of separation,

Separation’s day seemed to pass, and the night of union has come.

.

With C. M. Naim 

.

From: Dast-i ṣabā (Hand of the Wind). Dihlī: Senṭral Buk Ḍipo, 1952. pp. 107 – 108

Yād is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970

             

In the desert of loneliness, my love, tremble 

Your voice’s shadow, your lips’ mirage;

In the desert of loneliness, under twigs and dust of distance 

Bloom your rose-jasmine arms.

Somewhere—nearby—rises the warmth of your breath,

Smouldering slowly in its own fragrance.

Far away—beyond the horizon—shining, drop by drop,

Falls the dew of your loving glance.

With so much love, my love, your memory

Has placed its hands on my heart’s cheek,

And though the morning of separation,

Separation’s day seemed to pass, and the night of union has come.

.

With C. M. Naim 

.

From: Dast-i ṣabā (Hand of the Wind). Dihlī: Senṭral Buk Ḍipo, 1952. pp. 107 – 108

Yād is quoted in full in Urdu Poetry, 1935-1970