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At dusk, at dawn I gaze upon your beauty

Darshan Singh, Darshan Singh poetry, Sikh, Sikh poetry,  poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry,  poetry by Darshan Singh
(1921 - 1989) Timeline

English version by
Barry Lerner and Harbans Singh Bedi

Original Language
Urdu

Sikh
20th Century

At dusk, at dawn I gaze upon your beauty --
A dazzling spectacle of rising moon and sun.

So far, the wayfarers have not discovered your footprints:
They stand staring at the stepstone of your door

Your glance of abundant grace did not satisfy;
We with the seeing eye know a glance from a glance.

Saqi, they've just arrived and taken their seats;
How is it that they've already gained intimacy?

Some you inspire with the madness of prostration:
They cannot tell their heads from your door.

Saqi, whoever comes by even a tinge of awakening
We see sitting in your assembly, oblivious to this world.

Men who are maddened by the thought of the goal
See not fellow travelers -- they are intent on the road.

Master, in what strange state your Darshan lives:
We always see his eyes moist with tears.

 

 

-- from Love's Last Madness: Poems on a Spiritual Path by Darshan Singh, Translated by Barry Lerner / Translated by Harbans Singh Bedi

Amazon.com

 


/ Photo by Koshyk /

Themes

  Awakening
  Dawn
  Light
  Moon
  Smile


Recommended Books


Love's Last Madness: Poems on a Spiritual Path by Darshan Singh, Translated by Barry Lerner / Translated by Harbans Singh Bedi

 

| More Poems by Darshan Singh | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

There's something dream-like to me in the imagery and rhythm of these lines. Ending an all-night meditation, balanced in that realm between waking and sleep, reality becomes fluid and luminous. That's when a poem like this just feels right.

The couplet that keeps calling me back:

Some you inspire with the madness of prostration:
They cannot tell their heads from your door.


Have a beautiful day!

 

 


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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
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