Short Poems

I have no bowl
I receive
with my hands.

Do not count me among good people. I know what I am. Do not entertain good thoughts of me. I am a prisoner of my treacherous passions and am full of sin. This is no lie. I know what I am.
I do not tread the path of pride. I repeat this to myself again and again. I am bad and my actions are evil and I know what I am.
If people praise me, O Shirin, I am not transported with joy. Hidden from all eyes, alone by myself, I know what I am.

I, Lalla, wearied myself seeking for him and searching.
I laboured and strove even beyond my strength.
I began to look for him, and lo, I saw that bolts were on his door:
And even in me, as I was, did longing for him, become fixed;
And there, where I was, I gazed upon Him.

M ANKUMARI

I seek the lofty heart of the great. Give me not treasure of pearls and jewels, O God. I desire not dominion in this world, nor honour. If I gain the heart I desire, I will pour out my life, worthless though it be, and will beg manhood, the greatest thing of all. I worship a heart, a heart worthy of worship.

Without seeing thy face we have given thee a place in our own eye, like the pupil.
I have only heard thy name and I love thee. I have not seen thee, and yet I love thee as if I had seen and known thee.
The light of the face of the sun is tossing about (is glancing to and fro). Why? Because it has been wounded by the sword of our angry eye.
Beware, O Shiring. Be not forward in treading the path of love. Have you never heard what befell Farhad?

Her hands and feet were like the lotus, her eyes and her face like the lotus petal. So she was called Padmani.
She clapped her little hands, she toddled about. People, hearing the sweet words of the chubby child, adored her. She and her friends chattered like parrots, and they walked in stately style like swans or strutted like peacocks, the sweet, inquisitive, little folks.

Sahajo says, many gurus walk to and fro,
But they have not knowledge, meditation and remembrance.
They catch many people by the arm,
But they are not able to send one man across to find salvation.

The troubles of all existence are removed, if we call upon Rama.
To-day you will receive happiness, if you call upon Rama.
I, though a widow, have obtained (the joy of) divine contemplation; I call upon Rama.
I, this widow, will constantly call upon Rama.
Let Divali always pray to thee and call upon thee, Rama.

I send thee here no valentine,
I only dash thee off a line.
In trembling haste I send it, —
Give earnest heed to what I say;
I 've a grievous rent in my heart to-day,
I prithee, Taylor, mend it!

White foam flower, red flame flower
On my tree of delight.
Lean from the shadow
Like singing in sorrow —
Pale flower of thy smile, flame flower of thy touch,