| Key to Transliteration System | xvi |
| Preface | xix |
| Introduction | 1 |
| Sant Darshan Singh (1921-1989) | 1 |
| Sant Mat--The Theory of the Mystic Path | 6 |
| The Mystic Path Through Darshan's Poetry | 8 |
| The Origin of Urdu | 19 |
| The Ghazal--Form | 20 |
| The Ghazal--Themes | 23 |
| The Lyric Voice of Darshan's Poetry | 27 |
| Gender in the Ghazal | 28 |
| Problems Encountered in Translating and Annotating | 29 |
| Mystical Symbols Frequently Employed in Darshan's Poetry | 32 |
| Selected Poetry from Mataa-e Noor--Treasure House of Light | |
| When man himself is God's purpose, why ask wherein God's purpose lies? | 39 |
| How did I ever think silence the language of love? | 40 |
| How should I tell of the feeling that reigns in the court of the friend? | 41 |
| The cup goes round the circle, my life wheels in trance | 42 |
| The future will write your life's story in letters of gold | 43 |
| Wonder of wonders! What grace flows within the saqi's tavern! | 44 |
| They were clothed in poverty, as humble as the dust | 45 |
| Blossom season has come, yet who can explain--there must be someone | 46 |
| At dusk, at dawn I gaze upon your beauty | 47 |
| Only the diver who dares to plunge into the vortex | 48 |
| Without you I have fallen into a strange, listless state | 50 |
| Gone are the attractions of love, weak are the memories | 52 |
| In this assembly I seek a glance of love | 53 |
| The plainness of her evening bloomed with the hues of dawn | 54 |
| My heart doesn't crave, would never ask for wine | 55 |
| The moon pours down, the garden enthralls; ravishing, she glows at my side | 56 |
| I gained the wealth of the world, won power and reown | 57 |
| Wise men I beheld confounded and dismayed | 58 |
| Now is the urgent time to soothe and heal | 60 |
| Nothing is seen of the flowers through the dust of our striving | 61 |
| Every hour is grief, each breath a sigh for the times | 62 |
| A drunken breeze is blowing; come, fill the cup of ghazal! | 63 |
| The anguish of my nights will not defile my eyes with sleep | 64 |
| Others revel in the goblet's rounds, the flow of bubbling wine | 65 |
| But for His pride He is ever the same throughout creation | 66 |
| The buds wear an impish smile, the breeze starts to banter and tease | 67 |
| The archetype of beauty I saw at creation's dawn | 68 |
| Empty goblet, scentless evening, the garden a dismal face | 69 |
| My heart in burning at least lent light to my life | 70 |
| If saqi greets me with intoxicated eyes, what then? | 71 |
| Drunkards, rejoice! With God's sanction, someone | 72 |
| Beyond the flight of thought, beyond the reach of mosque and temple | 73 |
| The more he is spurned at every door, the more he bows his head | 74 |
| To whomever but one glance of your grace is sent | 75 |
| Till it break, the heart is a worthless mote | 76 |
| Off in a corner is my nest, shunned by the face of spring | 77 |
| I came away remorseful for venting my complaints | 78 |
| To step out with such abandon seemed impossible | 79 |
| Love lends sparkle to this happy, sad world | 80 |
| It is hard to renounce desire after tasting pleasures | 81 |
| I keep talking to my own heart | 82 |
| What do they know of laughter's secret, what of joy's mystery? | 83 |
| She did not come to the rooftop and show her luminous face | 84 |
| I want to travel love's path to the end | 85 |
| I have no need for Jamsheyd's wine, nor for his royal cup | 86 |
| Tulip, rose, moon, sunrise | 87 |
| Is all this your flaming countenance or a display of your dazzling beauty? | 88 |
| How can I believe her message never came? | 89 |
| Who ever bid you to do your drinking in secret? | 90 |
| You, the enemy of my life and you, my savior | 91 |
| I come bearing treasures of love everlasting | 92 |
| Around the flaming candle pours | 93 |
| From the cups of his eyes spills ravishing wine | 94 |
| A wordless tale--listen with your heart! | 95 |
| Whose is this door where my head irresistibly bows? | 96 |
| The assembly of master artists opened up a world of beauty | 97 |
| The visionary eye ranges beyond Ka ba and Sinai | 98 |
| Whenever sorrow befalls they laugh it away! | 100 |
| This splendor of the sun and moon, the beauty of creation | 101 |
| What escape has humankind from the prison of sorrows | 102 |
| This day someone should offer prayers from the heart | 103 |
| How could you fathom, dear traveling-companion, my journey is different from yours | 104 |
| Enchanting garden, pageant of blooms, exhilarant springtide breeze | 106 |
| On this path sometimes gardens appear, sometimes deserts | 107 |
| Immune now is my heart to life's sorrows and worldly cares | 108 |
| From every scene of life his glance withdrew with indifference | 110 |
| The fervor of my love will not weaken | 111 |
| To utter a word of passion is trespass, to mention love is sin | 112 |
| Artists of the world, heed my appeal | 113 |
| What I need most of you, God--how put that into words? | 114 |
| How wondrous is the instrument of love! | 115 |
| Show me the miracle of Christ, for life departs my lips | 116 |
| For fear of the world's opinion, she withdrew into shyness | 117 |
| O breath of life, do you remember when | 118 |
| Separation has wrung out all light from my | 119 |
| Why spurn me now, O life of my desires? | 120 |
| When the long-lost straggler drew near the caravanserai, his companions | 121 |
| When amidst a flood of woes my grief-drowned house I recall | 122 |
| My goddess, I learn, is estranged from me for no reason | 123 |
| When the talk turns to love, I speak to her of all manner of things | 124 |
| The death of a jovial heart is a calamity | 125 |
| The sum of all light, the gathering of a garden's colors | 126 |
| After you cast your evil eye, O hunter | 127 |
| Who knows, in what state was I when I met her eyes? | 128 |
| Life--unknowable in ages past, shrouded in mystery now | 129 |
| I do not walk alone--love's mad zeal is my companion | 130 |
| Abbreviations | 131 |
| Commentary on the Poems | 133 |
| Table of Correspondence | 185 |
| Between Translated Poems and | |
| Urdu Originals in Mataa-e Noor | |
| Notes | 187 |
| Bibliography | 200 |
| Index of First LInes | 203 |
| About the Translators | 206 |
