In the Spring
Come back with Barbad (*)
Carrying a lute
And wearing a green cape.
Sneak into the royal garden and straddle the brook
Pass with haste from behind the hedges
Look from the corners of your eyes at the suspended apple
Floating on the fountain of the garden pool
And hide in the middle of willows and pine trees.
There, you will find an ancient pine
Connecting you to the sky.
Hang the lute from your shoulder
And step by step
Climb the overarching limbs
And nest like a singing bird
Behind the green canopy.
The king will come to the balcony
And sit at the New Year’s throne.
The cup bearer fills the cups with wine
And Mardooy, the butler, lights the candlesticks
And minstrels walk to the floor gracefully.
But before the trickster Sarkesh, the chief of royal musicians,
Tunes his harp lightly with a few strums
And percussionists and fiddlers sit in their places
And the singers clear their throats with shallow coughs,
Take the lute from your lap
And play the “Born with Justice” sonata.
The court guards with their clubs
And the Sarkeshites with their horns
Will sit in silence
And the lute will talk instead of you,
And your enchanting fingers
Which make Sarkesh envious
Will play the “Green all Green” sonata
In the sanctuary of the royal garden.
Then,
While the king is still enchanted
Climb down from your green nest
Look at your reflection in the water
Walk without haste from behind the hedges
And this time, tall with head high
Pass through the half-open gate,
and as before
Stay a wandering minstrel.
Lute is a horse.
It grows in grand ranches
But dies out in small homes.
— July 18, 2001
[Persian original]
* – Barbad was a famous Persian musician at the time of King Khosrow Parviz (590-628). According to the national epic of The Shahnameh, composed by FErdowsi (935-1020), Sarkaesh, the chief of royal musicians, envied Barbad and did not allow him to appear before the king. One Spring, at the time of Nowruz’s celebration, Barbad sneaked into the royal garden and by playing a “barbat” (lute) mesmerized the king and became his favorite musician.
