The Punjab Autumn: The Season of the Cooling Dew — (Composed on the Birthday of Guru Nanak, 1916)
I
The piping of the rain-birds has ceased,
Dadar and peepiya are silent now,
The dance of the peacock is over,
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
II
The clouds have stopped their thunder,
The lightning has hidden her spark,
The floods of the Punjab rivers have rolled away,
The rivers have shrunk low;
The storm is over, and the winds blow soft and slow.
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
III
The sweet, sweet dew wets all with joy,
Wet with joy are the night and the moon,
And dewdrops quiver over the stars on high,
And joy-wet blows the wind on my face.
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
IV
The cool, soft touches of the falling dew calm my soul;
And my mind, blessed with the dew-joys calm and cool, is at rest!
My beloved! come to me as the dew of my eyes!
Come to-day as the dew cometh!
And cool my soul parched by the pain of long, long separation!
My beloved! it is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
V
O master of the order of the Seli!18
O dweller of heaven!
O great giver!
My Guru Nanak! Come to me to-day!
O light of lights!
Thy seats are the sun and the moon!
My beloved! return to me to-day!
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
VI
It is the season of slumber and dew.
Cruel is all separation!
Pray remove the distances that divide me from thee.
My beloved! it is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
VII
My love! stay no more in distant lands away from me!
Come into the vacant courtyard of my heart!
Dye my soul with the joys of thy presence,
And make it now thy home.
Stay at home! Go no more out of me!
Dwell in my soul, before my eyes!
And for ever be there the perennial draught of my eyes.
My love! it is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
VIII
Fill my tearful gaze for ever with thy celestial face;
And let my eyes be for ever wet with the joy of seeing thee!
My love! dwell for ever in my eyes!
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
IX
It is now the dewy season,
The season of the happy meetings of love,
The season of the quenching of all fires of pain.
To me everything seems to be dew-wet;
From the blue of heaven the dew is falling soft;
It is the dew of deep, deep unions;
And wonder and worship is in the eyes.
The separated ones shall meet!
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
X
Now is the time of everlasting embraces!
My beloved! come, meet me to-day!
Take me to thy bosom!
The dew is flooding things with joy.
My love! come to me!
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
XI
The dew cometh from heaven down!
It bringeth heavenly peace for all,
It wetteth all with sweetness.
Invisible, it raineth deep into souls,
It raineth love and peace and joy.
It raineth sweetness.
Dew! dew! my comrades!
It is the season of the cooling dew!
The dew is falling everywhere,
And wet is every rose.
The gentle breath of heaven blows.
(Trans.) Puran Singh
(Nārgās: Bhai Vir Singh).