[زکریا فتاحی]

To this world you have brought the fragrance
Yet perfume you have hidden from appearance
A million excitements this aroma belies
That you have thrown upon the earth and the skies.
From thy own radiant light and heat
You have set fire to the mind and soul’s seat
From taking thy life-giving jewel
The mine and the ocean have lost their cool.
Millions of souls with radiant faces
Have been confined to dark spaces.
You take the certainty of fools
And give them doubt with mental tools.
They ply themselves with their own hand
And with sweetness take a bloody stand.
The heartful find their hearts broken
The heartless with cries of alas are woken.
Shams-e Tabrizi from thy kindness
To lovers have given this madness.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari

Vancouver, Canada

July 12, 1998