Qasida · 11th century

Pass By, O Wind of Khorasan

Naser Khosrowناصرخسرو

بگذر ای باد دل‌افروز خراسانی

Pass by, O heart-kindling wind of Khorasan,

بر یکی مانده به یمگان دره زندانی

over one left a prisoner in the valley of Yumgan,

اندر این تنگی بی‌راحت بنشسته

who sits in this narrow place without comfort,

خالی از نعمت وز ضیعت و دهقانی

bereft of wealth, of land and of farms.

برده این چرخ جفا پیشه به بیدادی

This cruel-natured wheel has unjustly taken

از دلش راحت وز تنش تن آسانی

ease from his heart and rest from his body.

دل پراندوه‌تر از نار پر از دانه

His heart is fuller of sorrow than a pomegranate of seeds,

تن گدازنده‌تر از نال زمستانی

his body more wasted than a reed in winter.

داده آن صورت و آن هیکل آبادان

That fine, flourishing form and frame

روی زی زشتی و آشفتن و ویرانی

has turned its face to ugliness, disorder and ruin.

گشته چون برگ خزانی ز غم غربت

From the grief of exile that bright face,

آن رخ روشن چون لاله نعمانی

once like a red anemone, has become an autumn leaf.

From: The Divan of Naser Khosrow
Translation: Persiahaus Editors
Source: Draft translation from the Ganjoor text
Persian text: Ganjoor

A note for readers

The opening of one of Naser Khosrow's best-known poems of exile, spoken of himself in the third person as a prisoner in Yumgan, the remote valley in Badakhshan where he spent his last years. Later in the poem he turns on the enemies who call him a heretic. The 'red anemone' translates lale-ye no'mani, a red wild flower often compared to a glowing face.