Ghazal - Bidel Dehlavi

Your hair shines from the sun's shadow.
Your musk lines break in the sun's letters.
Imagination founders when overcome by love.
The pearl on the edge of the sea is a deep sun.
To me, your oppression is freedom from the light.
The last shadow passes from itself to the sun.
Even after our wild fortune has fallen low,
the sun still shines on our nakedness.
Sinking miraculously, its light frolics beautifully.
The flower's dew cuts through the sun.
Everywhere, your face is overwhelmed
by its beauty as its rays strike the earth.
It is a rare gift to boast of nothingness.
The pearl of astonishment blooms beneath the sun,
selling the soul while gliding over your face. Bidel,
like the dawn, make your movement through life a turn to the sun.

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Bidel Dehlavi (Mirza Abd al-Qadir) (1642–1720) India & Persia
Translated by Rebecca Gould