Ruba'i I

by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi

*handwritten Urdu text by the author, early 1980's*



A moistened flame
pain
and separation pressed
beneath a clod of earth.

A twisting of a flower-branch
pain
and separation pressed
beneath a clod of earth.

Night disintegrates in broken breaths
No being no nothingness
pain
and separation pressed
beneath a clod of earth.





[ik shu((lah-e ;Gam dard judaa))ii tah-e ;xaak]
translated by the author