Before there was a trace of this world of men,
I carried the memory of a lock of your hair,
A stray end gathered within me, though unknown.
Inside that invisible realm,
Your face like the sun longed to be seen,
Until each separate object was finally flung into vision.
From the moment of time’s first-drawn breath,
Love resides in us,
A treasure locked into the heart’s hidden vault.
Before the first seed broke open the rosebed of Being,
An inner lark soared through your meadows,
Heading towards Home.
What can I do but thank you, one hundred times?
Your face illumines the shrine of Hayati’s eyes,
Constantly present and lovely.
Translated by Jane Hirshfield