THE SONG
OF ZINDA-RUD
You say that these roses and tulips are permanent here; | |
no, they are travellers all, like the waves of the breeze. | 1530 |
Where is the new truth which we seek, and do not find? | |
Mosque, school and tavern, all alike are barren. | |
Learn a word from your own self, and in that word burn, | |
for in this convent all lack Moses’ fire. | |
speak not of the striving for purity of these monastery—dwellers, | 1535 |
they are all dishevelled of hair, blankets unwashed. | |
What temples they have fashioned within the Sanctuary, | |
these unitarians of one thought, but all split in two! | |
The problem is not that the hour of feasting has passed, | |
the problem is that they are all without sweetmeats and boon-companion! | 1540 |