What follows is a provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a poem by ʻAbduʼl-Bahá, the original text of which is published in Muntakhabátí az Makátíb-i-Ḥaḍrat-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, vol. 2, pp. 17–18 (selection no. 27). This translation is set to iambic tetrameter and an AABB rhyme scheme.
I am not aware of the exact circumstances under which this poem was written, but given its content, and also the fact that part of it is chanted in the film Exemplar as mention of the Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh is being made, it seems reasonable to assume that this loss is what ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is mourning in the poem, and that He may have composed it shortly after His Father passed away.
My rosy-cheeked most glorious One
My lofty Lord rivaled by none
O brightly Burning Bush of mine
My life be offered up for Thine!
O fair Beauty so lovely-eyed
My Confidant e’er by my side
These cries of mine which overwhelm
Tell tales of woe within Thy realm!
This threshold’s where I circle round
My sanctuary’s on this ground
‘Tis on God’s Mount my fire doth blaze
Toward Thy place my heart doth gaze!
Of joy the withered hearts are drained
The souls are quenched and sorely pained
Apart from Thee they’re most distraught
Without Thy breath our lives are naught!
The world with perfume is suffused
The musk of China is diffused
Thou wafted up Thy rosy scent
And now the earth is redolent!
Behold our grief that lies within
See us estranged from all our kin
Observe and find Thy captive there
Ensnared in tangles of Thy hair!
Distressed although my mind may be
Among the friends wilt Thou find me
O Thou of Whom I seek a trace
Where might I find Thy charming face?
Behold these tears mine eyes impart
And look upon mine anguished heart
Hear Thou this sigh which now doth burn
As for a lock of Thine I yearn!
Bahá! This dust upon Thy door
Athirst for Thee forevermore
Great as his love for Thee may seem
‘Tis but a drop from out Thy stream!
A typescript of the original Persian text of this poem appears below.
Adib Masumian 