How desolate the plain of wandering.

Sunlight everywhere, everywhere thirst;

How lifeless the mood of the tavern,

The body’s pulse, the soul’s fatigue.

At this crossing desires lost their way;

In this darkness life disappeared;

O sorrow of desire! I’m very tired;

Give me again the same old street of mine:

A small but beautiful house,

A fragrance spread about in the courtyard;

Dawn’s first sunbeam washing my face;

Ivy smelling on the canopy over the window;

The playfulness of the wind on the windows,

Light filtering through the doors;

A soft smoke rising in the evening;

My Lakshmi, sitting near the hearth,

Coals burning in the stove,

A sweet, clanging melody of utensils,

Songs full of nectar, innocent laughter;

Moonlight scattered over the roof at night,

A freshness on the face of my little one

When going to school in the morning.

Relationships, meetings, hospitalities, 

Feasts, ceremonies, festivals, happiness and sorrow—

. 

Today I would like to sell off all my freedom

And take on the joys of these chains.

. 

1958

.

From: Nayā ʻahdnāmah (New Testament). ʻAlīgaṛh: ʻAlīgaṛh Buk Hāʼūs, 1965. pp. 103 – 104