Death’s Angel cries
When the lute is played;
Our hearts arise
Living from the dead.

These passions deep
That were drowned and died
Like fishes leap
From the boiling tide.

Àz bângh-è Serâfîl damîdeh-ast Rabâb,
Tâ zendeh -ô- tâzeh kardeh del-hâ-yè kabâb.

Ân sodâ-hâ ke gharqeh ghashtand -ô- fanâ.
Chon Mâhî-yakân bar-âmadand az tak-è Âb

Vocabulary

Àz = from
Bângh = Call
Serâfîl = One of the four archangels who will sound the trumpet
on the Day of Judgment, heralding the end of the world. (Qur’an) an abridged form of Isrâfîl, also proununced Isrâfel and Isrâfeel
Damideh ast = is blown
Rabâb = Rebeck, Lute
Zendeh = Alive
Tâzeh = Fresh
Kardeh = To make, to do
Del = Heart
Kabâb = Metaphor of wounded, injured
Ân = That, those
Sodâ = Trade, deal, here means passion and sensation
Gharqeh = Drown
Fanâ = Annahilation
Chon = Like
Mâhî = Fish, Mahi-yak = Little fish .
(The letter K at the end of Fish means little fish, the K in Persian
grammar is the sign of smallness and littleness.)
Bar-âmadand = To leap
Tâk = Deep, Bottom
Âb = Water

by Eliza Tashibi