Silk Route

If you sit here, just to listen to me, 

I could speak endlessly, 

Speak for one thousand and one nights, 

Of caravans roaming in moonlight, 

Of silk route from this world to that, 

From Xinjiang to Kabul to Herat, 

Speak of the lost inn of Bamiyan, 

'The place of shining light', where Hind talked to Islam, 

While Bhuddhist monks sat on his side. 

If you just look at me, 

I could speak to you clearly, 

Speak of a diamond robbed from the deserts of Syria, 

The oasis, the Palmyra. 

Put your head on my shoulder 

And we could travel it all -

From Benaras to Multan, 

Samarra to Lebanon. 

If you listen properly, you could hear, my love! 

Hidden behind the explosions of bombs, 

The melody of temple bells and Azaan.