Today, when Tasbih
Met me on the road,
Enquired she about
The tears rolled.

‘Look at you,
O Jaihoon-
What has befallen
Your heart?

Who set your
Heart on fire,
Pushed you in this
State so dire?

Replied I,

O Tasbih!
My logic prostrated
Before his love.
Desires unfolded
As if there was no morrow.

In that moment
Of passionate burning,
I emptied the whole cup
Of his yearning.

Hard it was to tell
My joy from pain.
I knew not to separate
Laughter from tears.

I set my soul free
From time and space.
I leaped into worlds
At lightning pace.

I forgot my entire faults
In his love.
My brush broke:
Unable to draw.

I became proud
As Pharaoh.
I became wealthy
As Korah.

Majnun saluted
My passion.
Farhad envied
My devotion.

Ah! Paradise among the gardens
Of his land?
All the world’s beauty
Drops from his ocean?

Every one claims,
He is their own.
He is the friend
Of every creation born.

Ants assert,
He is their savior.
Plants plead,
He raised their honor.

Deer declare,
He is their friend.
Camels call,
Him the well-wisher.

Clouds competed
To bestow him shade.
Mountains ready
To be gold for his love.

Children cry:
Only he showed them mercy.
Women avow:
Their rights are from his miracles.

Angels admired
None like him.
Even HE chose
Meem for the beloved.

O Tasbih!
Why should I not
Drink his wine?
My soul not roam
On his love lane?

O yes, not for once
Have I seen him.
O yes, yet he isn’t
Stranger to me.

I love him since
The day I had a soul.
From mother’s womb
To even after I die.

He is the whole
Of my heart.
Nay, he is
My very heart.

A wonderful flower
If am I to you,
He is the scent
Flows which in me.

O Tasbih!
This is an endless tale
Of passion sans reason.
Take me not to task
For my human emotion.

Tell not a soul
Of my heretic lines.
I shall be thrown
For my Meem madness.




Sep 03 2010. Edit January 2024