When the Violin
Text by Hafiz (1325–1390), translated by Daniel Ladinsky
Music by Reena Esmail (b. 1983)
Painting of Colonel James Skinner’s nautch troupe (c. 1838)
When
The violin
Can forgive the past
It starts singing.
When the violin can stop worrying
About the future
You will become
Such a drunk laughing nuisance
That God
Will then lean down
And start combing you into
Her
Hair.
When the violin can forgive
Every wound caused by
Others
The heart starts
Singing.
Image attributions:
Painting of Colonel James Skinner’s nautch troupe, given as a souvenir to a European visitor to Delhi, c. 1838. | (BL Add.Or.2598) via British Library/Public Domain
Photograph of Reena Esmail from the composer’s website: https://www.reenaesmail.com
Hafez [Hafiz] in a conversation with Abu Ishaq Indiou (detail). Painting on Paper in Mughal style, 18th century. British Museum via Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain