Curator's note: The following verses selected and translated by Nicolas Roth, are embedded in the galleries across our five chapters. Hidden like easter eggs, the viewer must locate them all!
Chapter 1: Rose
Badan gul cehrā gul rukhsār gul lab gul dahan hai gul
Sarāpā ab to voh rashk-i caman hai ḍher phūlon kā
His body a rose, his face a rose, his cheek a rose, a rose his lip,
and the mouth, too, is a rose,
From head to toe he is now the envy of the parterre, a heap of flowers
Naz̤īr Akbarābādī (1735-1830)
Kisī gul men nahīn pāne kī tū bū-i vafā hargiz
‘Abas apnā dil a’e bulbul caman men mat lagā hargiz
You will never find the scent of faithfulness in any rose;
Oh nightingale, never set your heart on the flowerbed in vain.
Mīr ‘Abdulḥai ‘Tābān’ (1715-1749)
Caman men gul ne jo kal da‘vā’-i jamāl kiyā
Jamāl-i yār ne munh us kā khūb lāl kiyā
The rose that yesterday proclaimed her beauty in the flower bed -
The beauty of my beloved has made her blush deeply
Mīr Taqī ‘Mīr’ (1723-1810)
Sivā’e gul ke voh shokh ankhiyān kisī t̤araf ko nahīn hain rāghib
To barg-i nargis ūpar bajā hai likhūn jo apne sajan kūn patiyān
Those mischievous eyes have no interest in anything but the rose
So it is only right that I should write letters to my lover on narcissus petals
Shākir Nājī (1690-1744)
Chapter 2: Narcissus
Kāsah-’i cashm le ke jūn nargis
Ham ne dīdār kī gadā’ī kī
Taking up the mendicant’s bowl of the eye, like the narcissus,
We took to begging with our glances
Mīr Taqī ‘Mīr’ (1723-1810)
Sar ūpar lāl chīrā aur dahan jūn ghuncah-’i rangīn
Bahār-i mudda‘ā la‘l-i badakhshānī hai yeh laṛkā
A red turban on his head, his mouth like a colorful bud,
This boy is the spring time of desire, a ruby from Badakhshan
Shākir Nājī (1690-1744)
Tujh khat̤t̤-i pusht-i lab men tis kā sukhan hu’ā sabz
Is kā zabān dahan men mānand-i barg-i pān hai
From the beard sprouting around your lips,
speech has turned verdant,
His tongue is like a betel leaf in the mouth.
Najmuddīn Mubārak Shāh ‘Ābrū’ (1685-1733)
Vaṣf ānkhiyon kā likhā ham ne gul-i bādām par
Kar ke nargis ko qalam aur cashm-i āhū kī davāt
We wrote a description of his eyes on an almond blossom,
Making the narcissus our pen and the eye of a gazelle
our inkwell.
Shaikh Z̤uhūruddīn Shāh ‘Ḥātim’ (1699-1783)
Kyonkih nargis tirī ānkhon se kare ham-cashmī
Jab tak is kā nah ‘ilāj-i yarqān kījiyegā
Why would the narcissus compete with your eyes,
As long as it had not been cured of jaundice?
Shāh Naṣīr (1756-1838)
Yār kī ankhon men hai jaisī ḥayā
Cashm-i nargis men kahān yeh lāj hai
The bashfulness in the eyes of the beloved -
Where is such modesty in the eye of the narcissus?
Sirāj Aurangābādī (1712-1764)
Dhūm āne kī yeh kis kī gulzār men paṛī hai
Hāth argajī kā pyālā nargis liye khaṛī hai
Whose arrival is celebrated in these flowerbeds?
The narcissus stands holding a cup of argajā perfume
Ānand Rām ‘Mukhliṣ’ (1699-1750)
Chapter 3: Smoke
Phuljhaṛī se kam nahīn mizhgān-i ashk-afshān tirī
Motiyā ke dekhnā jhaṛte hain munh se is ke phūl
Your eyelashes scattering tears are nothing less than sparklers,
Which pour their “flowers” from your face like pearly
jasmine buds
Shāh Naṣīr (1756-1838)
Voh cirāghān o cāndnī kī rāt
Sair-i hat-i phūl o phuljhaṛī hai yād
I remember hose lamps and moonlit night,
Watching the flower-like fireworks and sparklers.
‘Fā’iz’ Dihlavī (1690-1737)
Chapter 4: Iris
Khīnc kar ānkhon men apnī surmah-’i dunbālahdār
Karte paidā siḥr se nargis men sosan āp hain
Drawing wing tip eyeliner around your eyes
You are magically producing irises out of narcissi
Bahādur Shāh ‘Ẓafar’ (1775-1862)
Agar us khush-dahan ke lab peh dekho rang missī kā
To phir zinhār barg-i ghuncah-i sosan nah dekhoge
If you see the color of missi on the lips of that pretty mouth,
Beware, you will never notice the petal of the iris bud again.
Sirāj Aurangābādī (1712-1764)
Kahā bulbul ne jab toṛā gul-i sosan ko gulcīn ne
Ilāhī khair kījo nīl-i rukhsār-i caman bigṛā
Said the nightingale when the flower picker plucked
the iris flower,
“Oh Lord! All right, go ahead and ruin the blue
countenance of the parterre.”
Haider ‘Alī ‘Ātish’ (1778-1847)
‘Arq-i bahār-i sharāb hai voh hī āj chiṛkenge āp par
Nah to bed-i mushk hai is ghaṛī nah to ke’oṛā nah gulāb hai
There is orange blossom water, that alone will they sprinkle on you today,
There is no musk willow at this time, no kewra, no rosewater is available.
Inshā’Allāh Khān ‘Inshā’ (1753-1817)
Chapter 5: Kewra
Ābrū jab vaṣf tere khulq-i khūbī ke likhe
Tab ṣafā barg-i sukhan ho jā qalam ho ke’oṛā
When Ābrū writes a description of your nature full of beauty
Then a polished petal of a sheet shall be the place and kewra the pen.
Najmuddīn Mubārak Shāh ‘Ābrū’ (1685-1733)
Bistar-i gul par jo tū ne karvaṭen līn rāt ko
‘It̤r-āgīn ho ga’e a’e gul-badan pis ke phūl
Tossing and turning on a bed of flowers, crushing them through the night,
Oh rose-bodied one, you have become drenched in perfume.
Shāh Naṣīr (1756-1838)
Curation and translation of verses: Nicolas Roth
August 2021
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