Lost In Myself

Lost in myself
    I reappeared
         I know not where
a drop that rose
    from the sea and fell
         and dissolved again;
a shadow
    that stretched itself out
         at dawn,
when the sun
    reached noon
         I disappeared.
I have no news
    of my coming
         or passing away--
the whole thing
    happened quicker
         than a breath;
ask no questions
    of the moth.
         In the candle flame
of his face
    I have forgotten
         all the answers.
In the way of love
    there must be knowledge
         and ignorance
so I have become
    both a dullard
         and a sage;
one must be
    an eye and yet
         not see
so I am blind
    and yet I still
         perceive,
Dust
    be on my head
         if I can say
where I
    in bewilderment
         have wandered:
Attar
    watched his heart
         transcend both worlds
and under its shadow
    now is gone mad
         with love.


Farid ud-Din Attar (Attar)
translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Nasrollah Pourjavady

Rework of "Long Time Sun" phaedris.deviantart.com/art/Th…