What is night, what is day for us
as long as He is in our heart?
He is the One who burns our heart.
It doesn’t matter if the sun rises or sets.
Our Beauty who enlightens and adds Soul to our soul
is enough for us.
Don’t teach wailing and crying
to the one whose mother has died.
Our Beloved who taught us Love is the best.
Don’t sew, don’t repair our mantle.
The sheik who sews the mantle is not good for us.
Everyone wants to be on top of the enemy.
Yet, the enemy’s beautiful face is our superiority.
Everyone searches for a fortune, searches to find treasure.
Love, which adds trouble to troubles,
is enough for us.
Divan-i Kebir, Volume 17, Ghazal 5, verses 59-64, page10.
Dear Millicent –
I’m trying to get in touch with you about Ergin’s translation of ‘The Window’ (from the first volume of Divan-i Kebir)- I would like to reprint it in my anthology The Language of Loss to be published by New World Library in November 2020. Do you hold the rights to it? My deadline is fast approaching. Thanks – Barbara
Dear Barbara,
Yes, I do hold the rights to Ergin’s translations of the Divan-i Kebir.
That said, I am unfamiliar with “The Window.” All of the poems in Ergin’s translations of the Divan-i Kebir are simply numbered. Is it possible that someone else published one of the Divan-i’s poems and titled it?
If there is still time before your deadline and you can send me more information, I’ll respond right away.
Best of luck,
Alex
(Millicent Alexander)