I Met My Soul : IMRAN YOUSUF

I Met My Soul

IMRAN YOUSUF

(I)

When I built love’s empire,

a new dawn broke in my deserted heart.

Beyond shores, oceans, storms,

and mysteries,

at last I met my soul.

(II)

Beneath the vault of the heavens,

I live in the valley of silence.

I dare not complain of my woes,

for I have seen the mysteries

of this mysterious cosmos

trampled into dust,

flames touching the skies at dusk.

At dawn, morning rays came

knocking at my door

with my soul in their palm.

That is the day when I met my soul.

(III)

Sermons of the preacher woke me

in the middle of the night, in darkness.

Through the window I peeped

and saw the peak of a mountain

melting like mercury.

Distilled drops of gold vaporized

and vanished into the haze of thin air.

My gaze returned to my room

and found me blessed with an inward eye.

Enlightenment illumined my spirit.

That is the time when I met my soul.

(IV)

In the mine of grief I found

signs and symbols,

sacred laws and wilderness.

I learned not to raise walls against the sun.

The illuminated courtyard is nowhere

but behind the walls of my dark room.

It is a secret to the stranger,

but bliss for the sage.

I turned toward this wilderness

when the breeze touched every

twig of the tree

on which the nightingale sang songs of love.

Under the soothing shade and sound,

I met my soul.

(V)

The passion of longing has always

blazed fire in the ruins of my desolated heart.

When the wails of wisdom breathed their last

in the chambers of ignorance,

I smashed the goblet of broken speech

and broke the chains of slavery

on the path of salvation.

With the awakening of conscience,

I felt an ocean moving within me.

I strode beyond walls of torment,

sadness, and gloom

and found the field of resurrection.

That is the place where I met my soul.

(Imran Yousuf is a poet, writer, columnist, and translator from Kashmir. His poems and translations have appeared in leading literary magazines and international anthologies, and he has co-authored over 30 collections. He is well known for his acclaimed series on Kashmir’s Sufi poets, now being compiled into a book.)