"Be that a shadow dark ?" : Un très beau sonnet écrit par Abdul Hamid Mohmand, le célèbre poète afghan du XVIIe siècle, sage soufie que les islamistes aimeraient faire oublier. Apprécié en son temps jusqu'en Perse, kil partageait la même notoriété que Saadi ou Hafiz. Il a laissé de magnifiques poèmes d'amour pour les garçons. La traduction, trouvée sur internet, est de Andrew Calimach.
Be that a shadow dark on my beloved’s face,
Or the moon’s bow?
Be those white teeth within his crimson mouth,
Or tulip flecked with snow?
‘Tis witchery he weaves with his black eyes,
Magic that tricks a fellow
No peer to it you’ll find, though India you search,
And Bengal mellow.
Like the wild bird caught by a hundred traps,
That no more can take wing
In my beloved’s curly locks I’ve been caught fast,
An awkward thing.
Blue is my heart before my dear boy’s lips,
Red wine in azure mug.
A rose in bud? Look well, ‘tis a pink boy
In a green shawl wrapped snug.
The shadow on his lip, that mole,
On the beloved’s rosy face
Are like a mystery wrapped up inside a shawl,
All cloaked in grace.
Why does the owner of that pretty face
With all those suitors meet?
The forest deer itself will not find calm
When dogs bark at its feet.
My limbs they ache and hurt,
Wounded I lie just like a broken flute
The reason why I ever cry, and weep,
And howl till I am mute.
Abdul Hamid, that lovely boy to win,
Cry your heart out my pet.
Seek in an ocean for that gem to find,
Not in some rivulet.
Et, une version française au pied levé, très insatisfaisante, pour ceux qui ne liraient pas l'anglais :