English translation of Nocturne
by Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933), "Nocturne", op. 40 no. 3 [ high voice and piano ], from Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, no. 3, London, AugenerScore: IMSLP [external link]
Note: this is a translation of one multi-text setting.
Le clair de lune est comme un soupir de la nuit : Que de soupirs aussi dans tout mon cœur qui tremble Et dans le tien, goûtant l'extase d'être ensemble, Sous l'infini soupir de ce grand ciel qui luit !
Text Authorship:
- by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 18, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1896
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Confirmed with Jean Lahor, Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1896, page 9.
Note: This is not a translation. Al-Ghazali left no known poetry; these quatrains were written by Jean Lahor (pseudonym of Henri Cazalis), who imagined himself into Al-Ghazali's life and thought, adopting the quatrain form because it was current in Omar Khayyam's era.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Ah ! douce nuit chaude et pâmée ! Tes jeunes seins sont frais comme le clair de lune. Ta chair sous mes baisers semble une chair de fleur. Oh ! comment les soupir et décrire une à une, Ces beautés en ton corps d'une exquise pâleur ?
Text Authorship:
- by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 19
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View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Œuvres de Jean Lahor. En Orient, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1907, page 20.
Note: This is not a translation. Al-Ghazali left no known poetry; these quatrains were written by Jean Lahor (pseudonym of Henri Cazalis), who imagined himself into Al-Ghazali's life and thought, adopting the quatrain form because it was current in Omar Khayyam's era.
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
Sous la nuit chaude parfumée Par la blanche odeur de jasmins, Oh ! qu'il est doux, près de l'aimée De pleurer d'amour sur ses mains !
Text Authorship:
- by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, written 1907, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 32, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1907
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Confirmed with Œuvres de Jean Lahor. En Orient, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1907, page 27.
Note: This is not a translation. Al-Ghazali left no known poetry; these quatrains were written by Jean Lahor (pseudonym of Henri Cazalis), who imagined himself into Al-Ghazali's life and thought, adopting the quatrain form because it was current in Omar Khayyam's era.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Si tout mon cœur pouvait ainsi qu'en ce moment, Sans fin trembler d'amour, délicieusement, Tel qu'une harpe d'or que l'on touche et qui pleure ! Si je pouvais aimer sans fin, comme à cette heure !
Text Authorship:
- by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 33
Go to the general single-text view
Confirmed with Œuvres de Jean Lahor. En Orient, Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, 1907, page 28.
Note: This is not a translation. Al-Ghazali left no known poetry; these quatrains were written by Jean Lahor (pseudonym of Henri Cazalis), who imagined himself into Al-Ghazali's life and thought, adopting the quatrain form because it was current in Omar Khayyam's era.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
The moonlight is like a sigh of the night: How many sighs, too, in my whole trembling heart And in yours, tasting the ecstasy of being together, Beneath the infinite sigh of this great glowing sky!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 18, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1896
Go to the general single-text view
Ah ! sweet night, warm and languid! Your young breasts are fresh like the moonlight. Your flesh under my kisses seems the flesh of a flower. Oh! how to sigh and describe them one by one, These beauties in your exquisitely pale body?
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 19
Go to the general single-text view
View text with all available footnotesBeneath the warm night perfumed By the white fragrance of jasmines, Oh ! how sweet it is, beside one's beloved, To weep for love upon her hands!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, written 1907, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 32, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1907
Go to the general single-text view
If only my whole heart could, as at this moment, Tremble endlessly with love, deliciously, Like a golden harp that weeps when it is plucked! If only I could love endlessly, as I do now!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Henri Cazalis (1840 - 1909), as Jean Lahor, no title, appears in En Orient, in 1. Les Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, in 1. Les amours, in 1. L'Amour de la Femme, no. 33
Go to the general single-text view