(I)

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

A blaze1 is raging near His Throne2
By my strains3 that burn like flames
The cries of "Mercy !" rise aloft4
From the Temple of His Names5.

Houris and angels, all alike,
My soaring thought can keep in hold:
The moulds6 in which Thou dost reveal
Get ruffled7 by my glances bold.

In my search and quest for Thee
Cloisters8 and Kirks9 I did design,
But my groans and woeful wails
Can shake the founds10 of Fane11 and Shrine12.

There were times when my vision sharp
Pierced the heart and core of Life:
Time again, fell short of mark13
By mine inner doubts and strife.

I was the only secret veil’d
In Nature’s Womb14 in Latent15 form:
When I was brought to light for show,
What wondrous act Thou didst perform!

1. Blaze: Conflagration. 2. His Throne: the precincts of the Absolute Being or Harirn-i-Zat, the original word in the text 3. Strains: songs.
4. Aloft: on high. 5.Templeof His Names: The Temple of His attributes. 6. Moulds: shapes i.e., the different aspects in which God displays Himself.
7. Ruffled : disturbed. 8. Cloister: a place of religious retirement, a sanctuary. 9. Kirk: Scotch equivalent for church.
10. Founds: foundations. 11. Pane: temple. 12. Shrine: sanctuary.
13. Mark: target. 14. Womb: Uterus, the organ in which the young of mammals are developed and kept till birth, the word in the poem is Sina-i-Kainat. 15. Latent: hidden.
Note 1: The first five poems, inspired by Divine Love, are addressed to God. Outwardly it seems as if the poet is talking about himself, but actually he is singing Hymns in praise of God. This Ghazal excels the succeeding Ghazals in sublimity of thought, uniqueness of execution, style, figures of speech and its rapturous nature.

The poet owns his own non-existence and is conscious that he exists only because of God’s Creative Attribute. He is grateful to God for having blessed him with the boundless Passion of Love for Him, which lends wings to his poesy and he can find access to the precincts of the Absolute Being. He is a true lover of God and is not contented, like others, to realise His Essence through His Attributes. Though he is fully aware that Houris and Angels, being creatures of light, are aery, yet he can catch them in the lassoo of his imagination. His sharp and piercing glances can ruffle the moulds in which He manifests Himself, but sometimes the doubts - and conflicts that smoulder in his breast make him miss the mark. God by creating man, who is the image of God on earth, has divulged the mystery that lay hid in the womb of Nature.
Note 2: Mr. Naeem Siddiqui did not translate this ode. So, the translation of this ode has been taken from Gabriel’s Wing by Syed Akbar Ali Shah.