We passed by thousands
of streets and mansions; |
on the edge of the city
was a broad square |
and in that square a
swarm of men and women, |
amidst them a woman
with the stature of a tall pomegranate-tree. |
Her face was radiant,
but without the light of the soul, |
2025 |
as if its meaning were
too hard to express; |
her speech lacked fire,
her eyes lacked tears, |
not intimate with the
joy of desire: |
her breast was void of
the ardour of youth, |
blind and unreceptive
to images her mirror; |
2030 |
she knew nothing of
love and the laws of love, |
she was a sparrow
spurned by the hawk of love. |
That sage who knew all
subtleties spoke to us: |
This damsel is
not of the Martians; |
simple and free of
guile, without artifice, |
2035 |
Farzmarz kidnapped her
from the Franks |
and made her expert in
the craft of prophethood, |
then let her loose upon
this world, |
She declared, "I
have come down from heaven; |
my message is the final
message of time." |
2040 |
She speaks of the
status of man and woman, |
she speaks more openly
of the secrets of the body. |
The destiny of life in
this end of time |
I will now recount in
the language of earthlings. |