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SRF's translation comes, with his permission, from Mir Taqi Mir: Selected Ghazals and Other Poems, translated by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2019. Murty Classical Library of India; Sheldon Pollock, General Editor. Ghazal 11, pp. 37-39.
FWP:
(inspired by SRF's translation)
(1) Oh, you found a hundred like me-- I never found one like you!
You said hundreds of cruel things to me-- I never once opened my mouth.(2) I circled the world; the one who pleased me was you.
You were happy with everyone-- except me alone.(3) There are turmoils of grief; many weep themselves out like clouds.
I alone wept a world-destroying flood.(4) Everyone claimed to feel passion, but no one stuck with it.
I alone knowingly tore my heart away from my life.(5) Everyone seeks beauty, so why should I have to endure such torment?
Oh Lord, am I alone guilty of loving idols?(6) Like lightning they flashed very much, but they've already finished speaking--
Like a cloud, over all creation, now I alone am a shadow.(7) In a hundred ways that One became manifest; no one was moved--
Since my heart had a wound, I alone found no strength.(8) Thousands found shelter in this garden.
I alone never found shelter here, under any rose or cypress.(9) Mutual friendship is an ancient tradition; likewise, mutual affection.
If I gave my heart away, am I alone an offender?(10) All those who saw her lost their senses-- but then they recovered them.
I alone, Mir, through my whole life, never at all came to my senses.
Zahra Sabri:
Zahra Sabri is a special guest translator for this site.
(1) Oh, you’ve met a hundred like me; I found none like you
You said hundreds of words of abuse to me; I said not one(2) I travelled the world, and found that I’m only pleased with you
You remained delighted with everyone; only I didn’t please you one little bit(3) This boiling over of grief also happens; rain-filled clouds also weep
But only I made a stormy ocean flow from my world-flooding eyes(4) Everybody made a claim of love, but no one stayed the course
I alone consciously detached my heart from the wish to live(5) Everybody seeks the sight of beauty; then why so much cruelty to me?
Oh God, am I the only one here guilty of loving beautiful idols?(6) Though many crackled like lightning, they got done after speaking
I alone remain spread out now, like a cloud, over all creation(7) He became manifest in a hundred ways, yet no one was at all moved
My heart, which was already wounded, meant I’m the only one who succumbed(8) There were thousands who drew benefit from this rose-garden
But I alone never felt the shade of the rose or cypress above my head(9) Friendship is an old tradition, and mutual love also occurs
I am deemed worthy of killing – was I alone in giving my heart?(10) Whoever saw her was lost, but returned to their senses
But “Mir”, I did not come to my senses as long as I lived