Günther Uecker

Werk 9

I say this quite openly and I am happy with what I say:
I am the slave of love and free from both worlds.
I am a bird of paradise. It is hard to explain how I was banished
And how I fell into this snare of phenomena?
I was an angel and my abode was in the highest paradise.
It was Adam who brought me to this desolate place.
The Tuba’s shade, the huri’s charm, and the fountain’s lip
Went out of my memory in my desire for your street.
Nothing but the alef of the friend’s stature is on the tablet of my heart.
What can I do? My master taught me no other letter.
No astrologer recognized my star of fortune.
I wonder under what star the Mother Earth gave birth to me?
Ever since I became a slave at the door of love’s tavern,
Every moment a new sorrow has come to congratulate me.
My eye’s pupil drinks my heart’s blood, and I deserve this.
Why did I give my heart to the darling of the people?
Wipe the tears in Hafes’s face with your tress, or else,
This continuous flood will carry away my foundation.

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