THE FLOWER
Introduction
In
this beautiful and apparently nature poem ‘All«mah Iqb«l gives the lesson of
contentment and self-sufficiency. Verses 4 onwards are very important.
Translation
O
flower! Why do you care for the nightingale’s wounded heart
First you should darn the slits of your own shirt!
If you long for respect in the rose garden of existence
You should get accustomed to living entangled in thorns!
The juniper in the garden is free as well as chained to the soil
You should acquire freedom within these constraints!
With contentment give message of embarrassment to miserliness
Do not remain obliged to dew, you should empty the cup and the bottle!
It does not befit self respect that being picked from the garden
You should be put in some turban or pinned to some collar!
The dew disappeared from garden saying to the flower bud
If you love gardener’s oppression, you should create beauty
If you want to remain unacquainted with autumn
First you should abandon the desire for the beauty’s world
Look, in this alone is concealed your life’s perfection!
If you should be the decoration of some beauty’s robe!