The Angel Flame

House in thy soul the flickerless lamp of love;
O way- lost dupe, relume the angel flame
In the wistful temple of dream: nurse in faith’s grove
The memorial rose of peace no thorn may shame.
Delivered from thy passions’ lurid gleams
And shadowing greeds, foes in the guise of friends,
Know: in the deep of hush the soul redeems:
She is the vanguard morn to darkness sends.
Her children in gloom, thy Motherland mourns and sighs,
Play Beauty’s flute like Krishna: thou art He.
If thou wilt wake- the world, a-quiver, shall rise
And mitred priests of love sing on with thee.
Hate never pays, though sorrows purify;
Be poised in thy Self of love – incarnate, free.
If love resign who shall reveal the sky?
Soul’s night is doom: her dawn – sure victory.
Be pledged to noble ways of the ancient Sun;
If lose thou must, let it be life – not love.
Shall clouds besiege thy star – dominion?
‘Up! Time is fleeting!’ – the bugle calls above!


From the Hindu Song of the Poet Abul Hafiz Jalandhari
Translated by: Dilip Kumar Roy