Molavi

Translated by: Majid Naini

Oh my beloved, don't make me a stranger,

I have your desire in my head;

I am on the top of the minaret (world),

but still longing for you

because of you I am drunken and intoxicated,

I am not conscious fo myself,

I do not even scratch my head,

since I have only your desire.

I tell you how my heart

became illuminated and happy (luck),

because in the mirror of my heart,

I have your beautiful image.

Oh my beloved, do not scold me,

I an all waves,

I am all excited,

Hail, oh spinning universe,

now listen to my saga.

Since, like you, my companion is the moon,

I have yoursize and magnitude.

I come to your doorman,

he does not let me in and chases me;

He doesn't know how I secretly watch you.

If there is no path through the door,

I come from the roof and windows...

From now on I will not cry out,

I will not make mischief,

I will not be enraged,

Whose directive is in y heart?

My heart expresses only you,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sin

Forough Farrokhzad

Translated by: Michael Hillmann

I sinned a sin full of pleasure,

in an embrace which was warm and fiery.

I sinned surrounded by arms

that were hot and avenging and iron.

 

In that dark and silent seclusion,

I looked into his secret-full eyes,

My heart impatiently shook in my breast

in response to the request of his needful eyes.

 

In that dark and silent seclusion,

I sat dishevelled at his side.

His lips poured passion on my lips,

I escaped from the sorrow of my crazed heart.

 

I whispered in his ear the tale of love:

I want you, o life of mine,

I want you, o life-giving embrace,

O crazed love of mine, you.

 

Desire sparked a flame in his eyes;

the red wine danced in the cup.

In the soft bed, my body

drunkenly quivered on his chest.

 

I sinned a sin full of pleasure,

next to a shaking, stupid form.

O Go, who knows what I did

in that dart and quiet seclusion.

I sing your voice

Simin Behbahani

Translated by: Farzaneh Milani &

Kaveh Safa

I sing in your voice in the blue sies of my beliefs

a song of flying inscribed by the wings of doves.

Wanting you I dance in a skirt of undulating sequins

like a pine forest dancing to a gentle breeze.

In your presence I see the green of my wings,

like the image of grass the feathers of a parrot paint in the mirror.

In the line that define your being I seek a hedge

to ptotect the green clover from being trampled.

I grow in your consciousness like a vine,

with my hair covering rooftops, doorposts, and fences.

Your tongue burns me, I am the candle to your flame,

in your illumination my tears turn to precious gems.

With you in mind I build a castle as wide as freedom

in which high and low sit as equals.

I am the autumn's solitary pine, naked in the twilight,

with generous veins giving my blood to the marble.