I am an Unbeliever of Love

Aql âmad dîn u dunyâ shud kharâb
‘Ishq âmad har du ‘âlam kâm-yâb

Reason entered, and religion and planet were ruined.
Love entered, and both these worlds were saved.

Kâfir-i-‘ishq-am musalmânî marâ dar kâr nîst
Har rag-i-man târ gashta hâjat-i-zunnâr nîst

I am an unbeliever of love; I have no use for Islam.
Every vein of me has become a thread: I don’t need a religious belt.

Mâ gharîbân râ tamâshâ-i-chaman dar kâr nîst
Dâgh-hâ-yi-sîna-yi-mâ kamtar zi gulzâr nîst

Strangers like us have no use for a walk in the garden.
The scars on my heart are nothing less than a rose garden.

Shâd bâsh ai dil ki fardâ bar sar-i-bâzâr-i-‘ishq
Wa’da-yi-qatl ast garchi wa’da-yi-dîdâr nîst

Rejoice, o heart! Tomorrow at the gate of love’s market,
There’ll be the promise of death, but no promise of a glance.

Nâ khudâ dar kashtî-yi-mâ gar na bâshad gû ma-bâsh
Tâ khudâ dâram-i-u mâ-râ nâ khudâ dar kâr nîst

If there is no pilot on our ship, then leave it as it is,
As long as God is aboard, there is for us no need for a pilot.

Ai sar-i-bâlîn-i-man bar-khēz ai nâdân tabîb
Dardmand-i-‘ishq râ tâ rûh ba-jism dîdâr nîst

Get up from the pillow of my bed, O you ignorant doctor!
here’ll be the pain of love till the moment that my spirit leaves the body.

Khalq mîgûyad ki khusraw but-parastî mîkunad
Ârî ârî mîkunam bâ khalq u ‘âlam kâr nîst

People claim that Khusraw worships idols: Yes, yes, I do!
But why should I care about what worldly people say?

NB: Hz. Amîr Khusraw has moved beyond fake expressions of faith and unbelief. A kâfir [translated as ‘unbeliever’] is in fact a person who covers something up, in this case unreality. Hz. Amîr Khusraw has received something very precious: Divine love!

N.B.: Khwâja Mu’înuddîn Chishtî, the spiritual ancestor of Hz. Amîr Khusraw, was called Gharîb Nawâz, the ‘Cherisher of the Strangers.’ Those who try to open up to Reality as it really is, are seen as outsiders to ‘normal’ society.