Can once again

The song of a bird

Make man stop for a few moments

By the shrine of a tree

On his way to destroy life?

All my life I have been brooding

Over a single pebble of doubt,

And yet I cannot expect

The lark of a clear thought

to be hatched,

Because whenever I swallow

One of many fears of the future,

Deep down in my heart I hear

The hissing of a serpent

That tries to break its way

Out of the shell of doubt

Towards the tomorrow of mankind.

Whenever I think about Beginnig

of any kind,

Before me I see a circle.

I make my eyes run

Round and round along the fatal line

Until I feel I am nothing but a point

Somewhere on the circle before me,

And in my silent despair I cry:

"Let this be the beginning!"

I stare at the point on the fatal line,

And it tells me,

perhaps with sarcasm:

"Let it be also the End!"

The man you hate

Because he is very stupid,

Is loved by his neighbour

Because he is very kind.

Dead twigs usually make

the best nests

For beautiful birds

you usually admire

Their plumage and songs.

I say "Hello!"

And they ask my name.

The fish live nameless in the sea,

And they all greet each other.

Without a name I do not exist,

And with a name

I am easily forgotten.

"Modern Persian Poetry"
(An anthology in English)

Click to purchase the book.