Sweetheart, Stay A Moment, And Hear Me Speak Poem by Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor

Sweetheart, stay a moment, and hear me speak.
I crave only to gaze at you - O stay !

Why be cross with me, why tear me apart ?
O, why drive me to immolate myself ?

Listening to you is tasting nectar ! And what sweetness
Flows from your crystal teeth and luscious lips !

O the splendid perfection of your form,
Where each part builds up to a dazzling whole !

The bulbul was heard saying under the pomegranate bush
'O flaming flower, how close you resemble my rose !'

How coolly you leave after causing havoc in my heart !
You'll have to tell me now where I shall live and how.

My heart is lacerated with your wanton use
Of powerful spear thrusts of cruel spite.

You leave at dusk, all dressed in white. Tread softly,
My dearest, and tell me why you want to go !

O stay ! Remember I left home in youth and innocence,
In mad pursuit of you, stumbling, falling on the way.

Why lie concealed to watch the fun
Of shooting barbed shafts from your eyes ?
Don't I bare my bosom to all your darts ?

Why lie concealed to watch the fun
Of shooting barbed shafts from your eyes ?
Don't I bare my bosom to all your darts ?

How I fell, and lay prostrate and shattered,
Like a pearl necklace whose string had snapped,
And became a target for public taunts !

O sun, when you hid behind the cloud in anger,
I burnt like lightning in the fire of love.

Love's fever laid me low; its fire singed my skin.
But did you ever ask what yearning filled my heart ?

Rasul Mir, who unveiled love's gnawing pain,
Has come again, reborn as Mahjoor. Just wait and see !

[Translated by: Triloki Nath Raina]