Confinement Dream

I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world.

I lie and rest my head on the beloved’s lap;

I see myself rising like a falcon to the air;

Alighting on the roof of Mehmoud I become eyes of Ayaz.

I rise from the quiet heart like a tender love song,

Bartering for houris the age of courtesans.

I dream I am sitting on the cool bank of Jindai –

My beloved amongst maidens stands out as a candle;

Her red lips smile and tell me to weep on,

‘Drink your lifeblood, for it is a joyous wine.’

I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world

I dream of an evening at a garden full of flowers –

Red eyes of the cupbearer with wine in red hands;

Fingers on a sitar in elation like Khayyam’s,

Gently turning over it the sweet fable of love.

I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world

I dream that the white moon is rising with a smile;

My sweetheart is shy and slowly approaches me –

Wine comes to the lips, demise to the mouth,

And measure for measure she gives me red élan.

I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world.

I dream that I set out shrouded in a zephyr;

Go to my darling’s side as a vision of love;

Hang before her eyes like a desert dream,

And lose in one jangle the riches of my life.

I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world

I dream that I set out like a butterfly;

Fly round a narcissus and skim past a jasmine;

Circle the necklace round the beloved’s delicate neck

And hail her, invisible, with silent greetings.

I dream, and seek for it some answer from the world

I dream that I rise like the cry of Mansoor –

A handful of dust, I become an ocean of light.

But then I hear the Azaan and wake up with a flurry.

Sleep takes away the dreams and the world comes to life

Saying, ‘lie down Ghani Khan, do your time in jail.’