Tahir Beg Jaf

International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan, 2004

THE KEEPER OF THE TAVERN

Let the voice of the singers be heard around the keeper of the tavern,
Let the lantern that disperses sorrows come in the night of separation!
In the assembly of the companions and the fellows,
And while the foreigners lament, let the remedy of the hearts come.

For the sake of my lamentation, my weeping and my sorrows,
For the sake of the pain of my wounds, let the breeze blow gently!
I am the slave of your stature that resembles a cypress-tree,
I am a captive in your tresses,
I am a martyr of your black eyes, let it be the devastation of the
lovers!

How long will it be autumn, how long shall we wait the coming of the
flowers?
How long will the nightingales complain, let the spring come?
It is the time of the poor companions, cupbearer give wine in goblets,
To show respect to the tavern, let the keeper of the wine shop come!

My life and my conditions are getting frustrated; I have lost my soul,
Let my friends come to lament for me, let their cry and mourning be
heard,
Since the lover is abandoned, he is frustrated and wretched,
He is almost dead, let the understanding physician come!

Translated by Farhad Shakely