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Aimons-nous et rêvons, nous n'aurons pas toujours Ce ciel devant nos yeux, doux comme une soierie : Les morts ne la voient pas, la belle nuit fleurie Qui nous caresse et fait plus tendres nos amours.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Henri Cazalis, Œuvres de Jean Lahor: En Orient, Paris: Alphonse Lemerre, 1907, page 22.
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.
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. 22, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1896 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
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 ]
The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:
- by Blair Fairchild (1877 - 1933), "Aimons-nous et rêvons", op. 40 no. 5, published 1915 [ high voice and piano ], from Quatrains d'Al-Ghazali, no. 5, London, Augener
Score: IMSLP [external link] - by Ernest Moret (1871 - 1949), "Aimons-nous et rêvons", published 1919 [ high voice and piano ], from Sous le ciel de l'Islam, no. 11, Paris, Éd. Heugel
Score: IMSLP [external link]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Joost van der Linden) , "Laat ons beminnen en dromen", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Anyi Sharma) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-06-30
Line count: 4
Word count: 35
Let us love each other and dream, we will not always have This sky before our eyes, as soft as silk: The dead do not see it, the beautiful blossoming night That caresses us and makes our love more tender.
About the headline (FAQ)
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.
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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. 22, Paris, Éd. Alphonse Lemerre, first published 1896
This text was added to the website: 2026-08-26
Line count: 4
Word count: 40