Poetry in Translation

Your Love’s Horizon is What I Want

by Muhammad Iqbal

Your love’s horizon is what I want
The simplicity of what I want

Let’s bestow heaven on the pious
Seeing you face to face is what I want

Promise me you’ll reveal yourself
Tease me. Test my patience. That’s what I want

I’m a small man with a playful heart
“You can’t behold,” is the command I want

Friends, I’m a guest in this gathering
Snuffed like a candle at dawn is not what I want

There, I’ve told our secret in public
I’ve no manners. Scold me. That’s what I want

Translated from the Urdu by Rafiq Kathwari / @brownpundit