Je me rappelle qu’un jeune homme et moi, jadis, étions aussi inséparables l’un de l’autre que deux amandes dans une même coque. Un jour, le destin voulut que je parte. Des années passèrent. À mon retour, cet ami m’adressa de violents reproches : — Pourquoi ne m’as-tu pas jamais écrit, pourquoi n’as-tu jamais eu pitié de ma tristesse ? gémit-il. Je répondis : — Je ne voulais pas que [ta]1 beauté embrasât le cœur du messager … Ô mon ancien ami, sois indulgent ! Si tu savais combien j’ai été jaloux, combien j’ai souffert de penser que des étrangers pouvaient te contempler jusqu’à la satiété … Mais, je me trompais. Cela n’était pas possible, car personne ne se lasse d’un spectacle ineffable !
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View original text (without footnotes)1 K. Sorabji: "la"
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La jalousie", appears in Gulistan. Le jardin des roses, Paris, Éd. Arthème Fayard, first published 1913 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (c1210 - c1292) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "La jalousie", KSS 42 no. 2 (1926), published 1991, first performed 1999 [ male voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes du “Gulistān” de Saʿdī, no. 2, Bath, The Sorabji Archive [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "Jealousy", written 1995, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Edward Rehatsek) , Kama Shastra Society, first published 1888
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 119
I remember how in former times I and another friend kept company with each other like two almond kernels in one skin. Suddenly a separation took place but after a time, when my companion returned, he commenced to blame me for not having sent him a messenger during it. I replied: “I thought it would be a pity that the eyes of a messenger should be brightened by thy beauty and I deprived thereof.” Tell my old friend not to give me advice with the tongue because even a sword will not compel me to repent. I am jealous that anyone should see thee to satiety. Again I say that no one will be satiated.
About the headline (FAQ)
This is a prose selection. Line breaks have been added.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Rehatsek (1819 - 1891), Kama Shastra Society, first published 1888 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La jalousie", appears in Gulistan. Le jardin des roses, Paris, Éd. Arthème Fayard, first published 1913
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (c1210 - c1292) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-29
Line count: 15
Word count: 115