GIVE ME LUNACY AT LEAST

by Ghalib
translated from Urdu by Tony Barnstone and Bilal Shaw

 

 

Love, I can’t own you,
but give me lunacy, at least.
Let my last lunacy be your
legacy, at least.

Don’t cut
all ties with me.
Let me hate you and you
hate me, at least.  

What shame in me
being with you?
If not in public, see me
privately, at least.

Go ahead,
believe he loves you.
I’m not my own
enemy, at least.

From my being should be
whatever should be:
if not mindfully, then
mindlessly, at least.

Though life is
fast lightning,
there’s time for my heart
to drain free, at least.

It’s not like
I’m giving up faith.
If love fails, I’ll take
calamity, at least.

Give me a shred,
O unjust sky.
Let me sigh
resentfully, at least.

I must resign myself
and make it a habit.
You’re stingy
naturally, at least.

Asad!  Your lover
keeps teasing you.
If she won’t bed you, then want her
urgently, at least.

                                                (Ghazal 148)

 

 

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