Forough Farrokhzad: Only the Voice Remains [Tanha Sedast I Mimanad]
Why should I stop, why When birds have flown in search of the azure realm, The horizon is vertical, The horizon is vertical and movement is effervescent, And within the limits of perception, The luminous planets revolve, The earth repeats itself aloft, And air shafts Become tunnels of connection, And the day is a vastness […]
Rumi: Ghazal 1334
What a miracle: we are in the fall, and the sun has entered the sign of Aries. My blood begins to boil in the flow of my body like a camel going wild and setting my being in motion. Watch the play of these waves of blood! See how the plains fill with Majnuns! […]
Sohrab Sepehri: The Death of Color [Marg-e Rang]
Sohrab Sepehri: The Death of Color [Marg-e Rang] A hue beside the night Has quietly and silently faded away. A black bird, coming from distant ways, Sings from the high roofs of the broken night. Intoxicated with conquest, This bird of sorrow has come. In this defeat of color, Has unraveled the thread of […]
Sohrab Sepehri: Smoke Rise [Doud Barmikhizad]
Smoke Rise [Doud Barmikhizad] Smoke rises from the cave of my solitude. Who could fathom the ruins I carry? I speak to my inwardly burned self. When will my story reach its end? I have withdrawn my hand from the cloak of night To cling to the braids of dawn as my hope. From the […]
In the Tar of Night [Dar Qir-e Shab] by Sohrab Sepehri
In the Tar of Night [Dar Qir-e Shab] Long has this solitude been, Where silence paints the design of lips. A distant call beckons to me, But my feet are sunk in the tar of the night. There is no gap in this darkness: Walls and ceilings merge into one. Should a shadow glide across […]
The Sin (Gonah) by Forough Farrokhzad
The Sin (Gonah) I have sinned, a sin full of pleasure, In an embrace that was warm and fiery. I sinned in arms That were eager, vengeful and steely. In this dark and silent sanctuary, I gazed into his eyes full of secrets. My heart trembled restlessly in my breast At the longing of his […]
The Song of the Reed Flute by Rumi [In Verse Translation]
The Masnavi, also known as Mathnawi, is a remarkable literary work crafted by the renowned Persian poet and mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi, more commonly known as Rumi. Comprising of an astounding 26,000 couplets divided into six volumes, this magnum opus stands as one of the most significant contributions to Persian mystical literature and Iranian […]
The Collected Poems of Hafiz
Hafiz, also spelled Ḥafez (born 1325/26, Shīrāz, Iran—died 1389/90, Shīrāz), was one of the finest lyric poets of Persia. Hafiz received a classical religious education, lectured on Qurʾānic and other theological subjects (“Hafiz” designates one who has learned the Qurʾān by heart), and wrote commentaries on religious classics. As a court poet, he enjoyed the patronage of several rulers of Shīrāz. Hafiz […]
Sohrab Sepehri: Selected Poems [English]
Sohrab Sepehri was born in Kashan on October 7, 1928; a very talented artist and a gifted poet, Sohrab Sepehri shot to stardom with the publication of The Water’s Footfall which was subsequently followed by The Traveler and The Expanse of Green. Sohrab Sepehri died of blood cancer in Tehran in 1980. The folowing poems […]