Amir Khusrow Translations
Strange Currents
by Amir Khusrow
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
O Khusrow, the river of love
creates strange currents—
the one who would surface invariably drowns,
while the one who submerges, survives.
***
Becoming One
by Amir Khusrow
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I have become you, as you have become me;
I am your body, you my Essence.
Now no one can ever say
that you are someone else,
or that I am anything less than your Presence!
***
I Am a Pagan
by Amir Khusrow
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
I am a pagan disciple of love: I need no creeds.
My every vein has become taut, like a tuned wire.
I do not need the Brahman's girdle.
Leave my bedside, ignorant physician!
The only cure for love is the sight of the patient's beloved:
there is no other medicine he needs!
If our boat lacks a pilot, let there be none:
we have god in our midst: we do not fear the sea!
The people say Khusrow worships idols:
True! True! But he does not need other people's approval;
he does not need the world's.
(My translation above references a translation by Dr. Hadi Hasan.)
***
Amir Khusrow’s elegy for his mother
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
Wherever you shook the dust from your feet
is my relic of paradise!
***
Paradise
by Amir Khusrow
loose translation by Michael R. Burch
If there is an earthly paradise,
It is here! It is here! It is here!
Copyright © Michael Burch | Year Posted 2019
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