Selected Poems by Qurratu'l-'Ayn

Edited and translated by Amin Banani with Jascha Kessler

This Heart

This heart, this heart, it thinks of only you.
This heart, I swear, it sings for only you.

Wounded and bleeding, enchanted, undone:
this heart, I swear, it sings for only you.

The musk in your hair, the spell of your face:
this heart, I swear, delights in only you.

And just to be in heaven standing there,
this heart finds its rightful place in glory.

The moonlight of your eyes, and drenched in fire:
dark clouds now flee from this heart's ecstasy.

Be kind, generous! Take pity, take care!
End this heart's pathetic agitation.

Driven from everything, drawn just to you:
freed from death in tasting affliction.

Let sparks fly! This heart's father is the fire.
This joyful heart will burn hot with desire.

Find this God, and you will become
the "No" before every other god.