"Dont ask me for the same love, my sweetheart"

Dont ask me for the same love, my sweetheart

I thought that life was radiant because of you

Why complain of worldly woes, once in your love-affliction

Your countenance brings eternity to the youth of spring

What else is there in the world but for the beauty of your eyes

If you were mine, my destiny would surrender to me

This was not so, only my wish for it to be

There are sufferings in the world other than the suffering of love

There are pleasures other than the delight of our union

Dark, heinous spells of uncountable centuries.

Woven into rich silk and precious brocades

being sold in every corner, bodies,

covered in dirt, drenched in blood.

Bodies, burning in hot ovens of disease

Pus seeping from open, lacerating wounds.

My sight returns to this as well, I am helpless

Your beauty is heart-warming still, but I am helpless

There are sufferings in the world other than the suffering of love

There are pleasures other than the delight of our union

Dont ask me for the same love, my sweetheart!

Translation by Hamid Rahim Sheikh www.ece.utexas.edu/~sheikh/poetry/faiz