Muntakhab al-tawarikh 362.3

362.3

Owing to thy absence the blood lodged in my heart, every moment. Rises to my neck like liquid in a bottle ; Every breath burns with the fire of grief And at each respiration throws forth from my bosom a flaming banner. Now my eyes contend with the blood of my heart And shed, instead of tears, sparks of fire. These are not eyelashes that encircle my eyes, They are the soot of my heart’s fire around its chimney. O thou of angelic disposition, from this sad journey Which has carried the lives of my dear friends away on the breeze Such languor has become the lot of my body and my heart That I pay no heed to my body or my heart. My body is disturbed by the pains of fever, My heart within it is like fire in a furnace.” In reply to that boastful poem of Shaikh Faizi’s, which begins : — “Thanks be to God that the love of beautiful ones is my guide. I am of the religion of Brahmans and of the faith of the fire-worshippers.” He wrote a qasidah , from which the following couplets are excerpted : —