In Memory of Irrfan

 When we begin to take shape, we start conversing with God,
then one day the night ends, we walk, and God walks with us, silent.


In the faintest whisper, someone seems to tell us:


You are more than what you remember of yourself,
walk toward the borders of all your desires,
keep me with you.


Blaze up like a spark
and let your shadows grow so large that I can dwell there.


Whatever comes along the way: beauty or terror.
Still keep walking. Know that there is no such thing as ultimate feeling.
Don't lose me.


What you see nearby, they have named life.
You will come to know everything, life reveals it all.


Just keep your hand extended.



Irrfan Khan had posted this poem on his Instagram profile, taken from Rainer Maria Rilke's book of poetry 'Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God.' The date was March 20, 2018. Just four days earlier, he had learned about his illness.


Did he already know then, deep down—that the threshold between life and death was not far away?


We don't know. We only know that a light went out.


The Mountain Man, farewell. We will always miss you deeply.


Postscript. Please forgive the translation errors in my amateur rendering of Rilke's poem.