The light in the flickering lamp is about to expire,
I have a burning ember in my breast, my thoughts are dire.
I better hurry up with my poem – the lamp is out of oil,
Not sure what I wrote makes sense… More paper I shall spoil
Scribbling line after line, ignoring commas and dots…
Later in the day I’ll sort my haphazard thoughts.
The dying flame is hopeless, it’s barely on,
I watch its final agony, it sighs, and then it’s gone.
What shall I do? It’s dark, but after lying down,
In my own gloomy thoughts I begin to drown.
Tortured by insomnia, I suffer in the dark,
Till the lamp I address with this pitiful remark:
“Do not light up tomorrow, I beg you, lamp, and pray,
Until the Judgment Day in bed I wish to stay!”
1912
В оригинале на татарском: Кичке теләк
В переводе на русский язык: Вечернее желание (Перевод В.Думаевой-Валиевой)