Jahan Malek Khatun (#WITMonth)

 

Come Here A Moment

Come here a moment, sit with me, don't sleep tonight,

Consider well my heart's unhappy plight, tonight;

And let your face's presence lighten me, and give

The loveliness of moonlight to the night, tonight.

Be kind now to this stranger, and don't imitate

Life as it leaves me in its headlong flight, tonight.

Be sweet to me now as your eyes are sweet, don't twist

Away now like your curls, to left and right, tonight.

Don't sweep me from you like the dust before your door;

Dowse all the flames of longing you ignite, tonight.

Why do you treat me with such cruelty now, my friend,

So that my tears obliterate my sight, tonight?

If, for a moment, I could see you in my dreams,

I'd know the sum of all the world's delight, tonight.

-Jahan Malek Khatun (tr. Dick Davis)

I read that volume Faces of Love, with translations of three Shirazi poets earlier in the summer and quite liked it. I quoted some by Jahan Malek Khatun (1324-1393, approximately) earlier, but saved this one for Women in Translation month.