A Bird on the Walls of Tus
Omar Khayyamخیام
مرغی دیدم نشسته بر باره طوس
I saw a bird perched on the ramparts of Tus,
در پیش نهاده کله کیکاووس
with the skull of Kay Kavus set down before it.
با کله همی‌گفت که افسوس افسوس
To the skull it kept saying, ‘Alas, alas!
کو بانگ جرس‌ها و کجا ناله کوس!؟
Where now is the sound of the bells, and where the roll of the drums?’
A note for readers
Kay Kavus is one of the legendary kings of the Shahnameh, and Tus, not far from Khayyam’s Nishapur, was the home of Ferdowsi, who told his story. The bells and drums are those of a king’s army on the march, now silent. The quatrain belongs to the Khayyam tradition, and how many of these poems are really his is still debated.
More poemsشعرهای دیگر
یکی قطره باران ز ابری چکید
خجل شد چو پهنای دریا بدید
A drop of rain fell from a cloud;
it was ashamed when it saw the breadth of the sea.
A Drop of Rain
ابتدای کار سیمرغ ای عجب
جلوه‌گر بگذشت بر چین نیم‌شب
The beginning of the Simorgh’s story, how wonderful:
in all his splendour he passed over China at midnight.
A Feather Fell in China
دل فارغ ز درد عشق دل نیست
تن بی درد دل جز آب و گل نیست
A heart free of the pain of love is no heart;
a body without heartache is nothing but water and clay.