Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion
Posted on 02/27/2012 by Juan
Man of the cloth,
do me a favor.
Take a deep beath and
do God’s work for us.
We’re on the straight path,
but you see crookedly.
Go heal your eyes
and leave us alone.
Translated by Juan Cole
from Whinfield 4
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Excellent timing!
Thanks for the translation.
Sounds like he was talking to Khamenei.
I wonder what Omar would think of Charles Pierce’s calling Santorum “A Man of the Froth”.
Many thanks for these fine translations. Although your daily political comments are much appreciated and very informative and enlightening, these eternal gems may outlast all the mundane and transient political issues and may prove to be your greater contribution to posterity.
One minor quibble regarding line four of the translation. I think by “dar kar-e khoda kon ma ra” he means “leave our affairs to God”. Otherwise, go and mind your own business. it is more in keeping with the rest of the poem where he says that his actions are not wrong, it is only the cleric who sees them crookedly. The line could be correct if you meant to write : “Take a deep breadth, and don’t do God’s work for us.”
thanks so much!
Next to Farhang’s point I would like to add that the expression دم درکش needs to be translated as “be silent” or “shut up” rather than “take a deep breath”
Thanks
Sorry, there was a typo on my first comment.