Time in Bursa

 A courtyard of an old mosque in Bursa,

Water running from the fountain.

A wall standing since Orhan’s time

A maple tree of the same age;

Spreading the calm of the day in all directions.

And the sorrow of being fragments of a dream…

There is something smiling at me

A memory coming from a peaceful place…

Greenfields with blue skies

And the holiest of buildings

 


 

Everything named after past victories

Capturing eternity in a single moment.

Where magic still lives on from days bygone.

In every stone, there are remnants of that happy dream.

Serenity,

Nostalgia flooding my heart

Gumuslu, the victorious morning

Muradiye, the reward of perserverance…

White lilies symbolize my life

Tombs, mosques, gardens…

The noble story of thousands of soldiers…

The noise of war’s thunder going up to the sky…

Tells the story to every passer-by

 

Bursa sleeping in the bosom of a dream every night.



Every morning it wakes up with the same dream

The early morning sun kisses the cypresses and the roses

Cool dreams of the gardens…

I am living the beginning of a miracle

The sweet sound of water and bird’s wings

Time in Bursa, a crystal chandelier






We visited the Green Mosque yesterday evening

We heard the sweet music of the Holy Koran

The sound coming from the ancient tiles.

With the pure joy of the Conquering days

I found this place beaming with your smile

 

I wish we could sleep our eternal sleep

Right here, with you,

Side by side

In this dream…I wish our horizon
Filled up with this light and this color

With the holy harmony

For sure, death will be the sleep of angels

In this magical infinity

Perhaps they dream of

White gardens and the sound of water….




Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar

Translated by Elif Erkmen

 

 


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