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Une certaine nuit, mon ami pénétra dans ma demeure. Je me [levai]1 avec une telle promptitude, que ma lampe tomba. Mon ami m’accabla de reproches, disant : — Pourquoi, dès que tu m’as aperçu, as-tu éteint la lampe ? Je répondis : — J’ai cru que le soleil s’était levé … J’ai vu en songe celui dont la beauté illuminerait la nuit la plus obscure. À mon réveil, j’ai pensé : « D’où me vient ce bonheur ? » Si un fâcheux se place devant [ta]2 lampe, bondis et tue-le ! Mais si, au contraire, le nouveau venu a des lèvres de miel et un sourire aussi doux que le sucre, saisis-le par le bras et éteins la lampe.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 K. Sorabji: "levais"
2 K. Sorabji: "la"
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La lampe", 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 lampe", KSS 42 no. 1 (1926), published 1991, first performed 1999 [ male voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes du “Gulistān” de Saʿdī, no. 1, Bath, The Sorabji Archive [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "The lamp", written 1995, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Edward Rehatsek) , first published by the 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: 15
Word count: 115
One night, my friend came into my home. I got up with such a start that my lamp fell. My friend heaped reproaches on me, saying: “Why, as soon as you saw me, did you put the lamp out?” I replied: “I thought the sun had risen…” I have seen in my dreams one whose beauty would light up the darkest night. On awakening, I have thought: “From where does this joy come?” If some tiresome individual should place himself in the way of your lamp, leap up and strike him down. But if, on the other hand, the newcomer has honeyed lips and a smile as sweet as sugar, take him by the arm and put out the lamp.
Confirmed with an original Microsoft Word Document provided by Alistair Hinton. Line breaks have been added arbitrarily.
Text Authorship:
- by Charles Hopkins (1952 - 2007), "The lamp", written 1995, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La lampe", 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 ]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 120