In Sleep (A Poetic Reimagining of “در خواب” )

In sleep,

I looked at you—

without a thought.

You were asleep,

and I grew restless

for the calm

that was unraveling your dream.

———

My dreams

tightened their throats,

leapt from sleep

and fled

into the arms of darkness.

———

Sleep

slipped away

with the sting

of half-open eyes.

From the ceiling’s shadowed veil,

the weary debris

of memory

began to fall.

———

Your drowsy gaze

was painted by imagination.

The jealous night

crept into a corner

and cast

the shadow of waking

before us.

———

If only the moon

at night’s bedside

could see

the sleeping sun

resting

on the wings of a cloud…

by Arsalan Mohammadi

✳️ Translation Notes:

• “without a thought” captures the spontaneity of «بی‌هوا».

• “the calm that was unraveling your dream” reflects the emotional subtlety of «آرامشت را پریشان می‌کرد».

• “weary debris of memory” is a faithful yet poetic rendering of «آوار خسته‌ی خاطرات».

• The phrase “the jealous night” gives symbolic personality to night as in the Persian original.

• Final stanza echoes longing and mystery—leaving the reader in a suspended sense of dream.