I Learned The Rules Poem by Sadiqullah Khan

I learned the rules, I forgot the essence;
The far end of goodness, the narrow street of vice.
From a tongue tied, without a sense of history
My thoughts in translation, transforming rhythm.
The innate beat, on an unstressed emotion,
The valley of innocence, behind barriers strong.

Come, to where nothing of the like exist,
Outside the form, outside the cage.
The Sage sayeth, to the cloak of dervish,
Patches in disorder, or in order,
A fast broken in the eve, or taken to the next,
Do either this, or do either that.
A raga by maqam, and a maqam in raga,
A dream is seen and is vouchsafed for life.

Sadiqullah Khan
Islamabad
March 6,2013.