FARSI POETS

Excerpts from Khusrau's Persian Poetry

Khusrau produced a large volume of poetry that in his lifetime, but very little of it has so far been translated into English or any other language. Following are the English renderings of some of his Persian works, collected from various sources. Many of these are also sung by Qawwals. You can read some of them in Persian script here.

Kafir-e-ishqam musalmani mara darkaar neest
Har rag-e mun taar gashta hajat-e zunnaar neest;
Az sar-e baaleen-e mun bar khez ay naadaan tabeeb
Dard mand-e ishq ra daroo bajuz deedaar neest;
Nakhuda dar kashti-e maagar nabashad go mubaash
Makhuda daareem mara nakhuda darkaar neest;
Khalq mi goyad ki Khusrau but parasti mi kunad
Aarey aarey mi kunam ba khalq mara kaar neest.

I am a pagan and a worshipper of love: the creed (of Muslims) I do not need;
Every vein of mine has become taunt like a wire,
the (Brahman’s) girdle I do not need.
Leave from my bedside, you ignorant physician!
The only cure for the patient of love is the sight of his beloved –
other than this no medicine does he need.
If there be no pilot in our boat, let there be none:
We have god in our midst: the sea we do not need.
The people of the world say that Khusrau worships idols.
So he does, so he does; the people he does not need,
the world he does not need.



Nami danam chi manzil bood shab jaay ki man boodam;
Baharsu raqs-e bismil bood shab jaay ki man boodam.
Pari paikar nigaar-e sarw qadde laala rukhsare;
Sarapa aafat-e dil bood shab jaay ki man boodam.
Khuda khud meer-e majlis bood andar laamakan Khusrau;
Muhammad shamm-e mehfil bood shab jaay ki man boodam.

I wonder what was the place where I was last night,
All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love,
tossing about in agony.
There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form
and tulip-like face,
Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers.
God himself was the master of ceremonies in that heavenly court,
oh Khusro, where (the face of) the Prophet too was shedding light
like a candle.



Khabaram raseed imshab ki nigaar khuahi aamad;
Sar-e man fidaa-e raah-e ki sawaar khuahi aamad.
Ham-e aahwan-e sehra sar-e khud nihada bar kaf;
Ba-umeed aanki rozi bashikaar khuahi aamad.
Kashishi ki ishq daarad naguzaradat badinsaa;
Ba-janazah gar nayai ba-mazaar khuahi aamad.
Balabam raseed jaanam fabiya ki zindah maanam;
Pas azan ki man na-maanam bacha kar khuahi aaamad.



Tonight there came a news that you, oh beloved, would come –
Be my head sacrificed to the road along which you will come riding!
All the gazelles of the desert have put their heads on their hands
In the hope that one day you will come to hunt them….
The attraction of love won’t leave you unmoved;
Should you not come to my funeral,
you’ll definitely come to my grave.
My soul has come on my lips (e.g. I am on the point of expiring);
Come so that I may remain alive -
After I am no longer – for what purpose will you come?



Bakhubi hamcho mah tabindah baashi;
Bamulk-e dilbari paayindah baashi.
Man-e darvish ra kushti baghamzah;
Karam kardi Ilahi zindah baashi.
Jafaa kam kun ki farda roz-e mehshar;
Baru-e aashiqan sharmindah baashi.
Ze qaid-e dojahan azad baasham;
Agar tu hum-nashin-e bandah baashi.
Barindi-o bashokhi hamcho Khusrau;
Hazaran khanuman barkandah baashi.

May your charming face ever shine like the full moon;
May you hold eternal sway over the domains of beauty.
By your amorous glance you have killed a poor man like me;
How magnanimous of you? May God give you a long life.
Pray do not be cruel lest you should feel ashamed of yourself
Before your lovers on the day of judgment.
I shall be set free from the bonds of the two worlds
If you become my companion for a while.
By your wanton playfulness you must have destroyed
Thousands of hearts of lovers like that of Khusrau

Ay chehra-e zeba-e tu rashk-e butan-e azari;
Har chand wasfat mikunam dar husn-az-aan zebatari.
Aafaq ra gar deedah am mehr-e butan warzeedah am;
Bisyar khuban deedah am lekin tu cheez-e degari.
Man tu shudam, tu man shudi, man tan shudam, tu jan shudi;
Taakas nagoyad baad azeen man deegaram tu deegari.
Khusrau ghareeb ast-o gada uftadah dar shehr-e shuma;
Baashad ki az behr-e khuda, su-e ghareeban bangari.

O you whose beautiful face is the envy of the idols of Azar
(Abraham's father and famous idol maker);
You remain superior to my praise.
All over the world have I traveled;
many a maiden’s love have I tasted;
Many a beauty-star have I seen; but you are something unique.
I have become you, and you me; I have become the body,
you the soul; So that none hereafter may say
that “I am someone and you someone else.”
Khusro a beggar, a stranger has come wandering to your town;
For the sake of god, have pity on this beggar
and do not turn him away from your door.

(trans. Dr. Hadi Hasan)

Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, duraye naina banaye batiyan;
ki taab-e hijran nadaram ay jaan, na leho kaahe lagaye chhatiyan.
Shaban-e hijran daraz chun zulf wa roz-e waslat cho umr kotah;
Sakhi piya ko jo main na dekhun to kaise kaatun andheri ratiyan.
Yakayak az dil do chashm-e jadoo basad farebam baburd taskin;
Kise pari hai jo jaa sunaave piyare pi ko hamaari batiyan.
Cho sham’a sozan cho zarra hairan hamesha giryan be ishq aan meh;
Na neend naina na ang chaina na aap aaven na bhejen patiyan.
Bahaqq-e roz-e wisal-e dilbar ki daad mara ghareeb Khusrau;
Sapet man ke waraaye raakhun jo jaaye paaon piya ke khatiyan.



Do not overlook my misery by blandishing your eyes,
and weaving tales; My patience has over-brimmed,
O sweetheart, why do you not take me to your bosom.
Long like curls in the night of separation,
short like life on the day of our union;
My dear, how will I pass the dark dungeon night
without your face before.
Suddenly, using a thousand tricks, the enchanting eyes robbed me
of my tranquil mind;
Who would care to go and report this matter to my darling?
Tossed and bewildered, like a flickering candle,
I roam about in the fire of love;
Sleepless eyes, restless body,
neither comes she, nor any message.
In honour of the day I meet my beloved
who has lured me so long, O Khusro;
I shall keep my heart suppressed,
if ever I get a chance to get to her trick.



Jan zatan burdi wa darjani hunooz;
Dard-ha daadi wa darmani hunooz.
Aashkara seen-e am bashugaafti;
Hamchunan dar seen-e pinhani hunooz.
Ma za girya chun namak bagudakhtim;
Tu bakhunda shukr afshani hunooz.

You carried the soul from (my) body – and yet,
You are still in the soul;
You have given pains – and are still the remedy;
Openly you split my breast –
Yet, you are still hidden in my heart.
You have destroyed the kingdom of my heart
With the sword of coquetry,
And are still a ruler in that place….



Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa
Choon kunam dil becheneen roz zedildar judaa.
Abr baraan wa man-o yar satadah ba-widaa’
Man judaa girya kunaan, abr judaa, yaar judaa

The cloud weeps, and I become separated from my friend -
How can I separate my heart from my heart’s friend on such a day.
The cloud weeping – and I and the friend standing, bidding farewell -
I weeping separately, the clouds separately, the friend separately…..
********








Some Farsi Couplets of Khusrau

Naala-e zanjeer-e Majnun arghanoon-e aashiqanast
Zauq-e aan andaza-e gosh-e ulul-albaab neest

The creaking of the chain of Majnun is the orchestra of the lovers,
To appreciate its music is quite beyond the ears of the wise.

Gar jamaal-e yaar nabuad baa khayalash hum khusham,
Khaana-e darvesh ra sham’ee ba az mehtaab neest.

If I cannot see her, at least I can think of her, and so be happy;
To light the beggar’s hut no candle is better than moonlight.

Dilam dar aashiqui aawareh shud aawareh tar baada,
Tanam az bedilee beechareh shud beechareh tar baada.

My heart is a wanderer in love, may it ever remain so.
My life’s been rendered miserable in love,
may it grow more and more miserable.

Gar khalq jahaan zinda bajaanand wa lekin,
Mun zinda-e ishqam ki shaheed-e gham-e yaaram.

People think they are alive because they have soul in them,
But I am alive because I have love in myself,
And I’m a martyr due to the beloved’s affliction,
(for, to a lover, nothing is dearer than
the affliction brought forth by the beloved).

Zabaan-e yaar-e mun Turkie, wa mun Turkie nami daanum,
Che khush boodi agar boodi zabaanash dar dahanay mun.

My beloved speaks Turkish, and Turkish I do not know;
How I wish if her tongue would have been in my mouth.

Peeri-o-shaahid parasti naakhush ast,
Khusrova taaki pareshaani hunooz.

Old age and lovemaking do not go together;
But O Khusrau, you still remain a proof against this reasoning.

Tu shabana mi numaai be barkay boodi imshab,
Ke hunooz chashm-e mastat asar-e khumar daarad.

You look sleepless, in whose embrace did you pass the night;
Your intoxicated eye has still the signs of tipsiness.

Ba khak darat rau ast maara,
Gar surmah bechashm dar neaayad.

The dust of your doorstep is just the right thing to apply,
If Surmah (kohl powder) does not show its beauty in the eye!

Ze shab bedaariye mun taa seher chashmash kujaa daanad?
Ki O shab taa seher kaaray bajuz khuftan nami daanad.

How can her eyes reflect any sympathy
With my night-long wakefulness?
For she herself knows of nothing
In the night, except sleeping.

Mun tu shudam tu mun shudi,mun tun shudam tu jaan shudi
Taakas na guyad baad azeen, mun deegaram tu deegari

I have become you, and you me,
I am the body, you soul;
So that no one can say hereafter,
That you are are someone, and me someone else.
**********

مولانا ابوالمعانی عبدالقادر بیدل


MOULANA ABUL MAANI ABDUL QHADER BEDIL

آنکس که منـــزه است زآب و گـــل مــا

بی از عدم است خلــــوت محفــــل مـــا

نــــامش از پرده بســـر زبــــان می آیـد

والله کــــه نیست جــــای او جــز دل ما

*****

ای دانــــه ازین مـــزرع اندیشــه بـــرا

یعنــــی زطلســم الفت ریشــــه بــــــرا

افســـردگی لفظ بمعنــــــی مپسنــــــــد

در شیـشـه چو رنگ باده از شیشه بـرا

*****
از یکســـو بیــدل آمد از یکســـو مـــا

او از عـــــدم و مـــا ز جهان یکتــــا

در عالـــم ادراک بهــــم جمـع شدیـم

چــــون وانگـــریم او کجا و ما کجـا

*****

گــــر ذره شـــوقی بخیـــال است تــــرا

صــد عمـــر ابد در تـــه بـال است تــرا

بــــی عشق اگــــر آفتـاب خواهی گشتن

هشــــدار که عقــاب زوال است تـــــرا

*****

روزی دو دریـــن انجمن لهــــــولعب

جمیعت حال خــویش را بــاش سبــب

از علــم و عمل مکوش جز بر اخلاق

از مذهب و ملت مگــزین غیـــر ادب

******

Bedil Dehlavi with my own translations:

bar nemiayad ba joz hich az mu'amma-ye hubab
lafz-e ma gar vashikafi mani-e harf magust

The bubble's riddle throws up nothing at all.
Crack open my words and look-
it means 'Don't say it!'

*

safha-ye sada-ye hasti khatt-e nayrang nadasht
khiragi kard nazar-ha raqami paida shod

The world's plain page
bore not one wondrous line.
The eyes started in surprise and
behold- a mark!

*

Bedil sokhanat nist joz insha-ye tahayyur
ku ayina ta safha-ye divan-e to bashad

Bedil, your poetry's nothing but the creation of astonishment.
Show me a mirror that aspires to a page of your Divan.1

[1Divan is a collection of a poet's complete works.]

*

keshti-e chashmam ke hayrat badban-e shawq-e ust
ta za khod jonbad mohiti az gohr avarda ast

My eye's ship,
the sail of whose desire's astonishment,
draws an ocean out of a pearl
that it might swell.

*

nahoft-e mani-e makshuf-e bi-tamolli-am
nabastan-e muzha afaq ra muamma kard

Unhesitatingly, I conceal unconcealed meanings.
Not blinking made a riddle of the world.

*

zang-e rukh-e ayina gasht ba safai badal
anbar-e afaq zad ghuta ba kafur-e nab

The mirror’s clouded face grew
suddenly clear.
The world’s ambergris plunged suddenly deep
into the purest camphor
*******

بیدل اگر آگاه شوی از علم خاموشی
تأثیر کلام تو به یک حرف تمام است


A group dedicated to Abul Maani Mirza Abdul Qader Bedil. The word Abul Maani means the father of meaning.

There are conflicting reports of where Abdul-Qader Bedil was born. Some traditions give his birthplace as Azimabad in present day India, others say he is from Khwaja Rawash in the Kabul region of Afghanistan. There seems little debate however that he was born 1642, his family originally came from Afghanistan and at some point moved to India as part of the Muslim Moghul court.

Abu Al-ma'ani Bedil wrote extensively -- poetry, philosophy, wisdom stories, and riddles -- and most of his writings remain with us today. He advocated religious tolerance and taught a doctrine the Unity of Being (Wahdat al-Wujud) similar to Ibn Arabi.
He is considered as one of the prominent poets of Indian School of Poetry in Persian literature and owns his unique style in it. He preferred free thought to accepting the established beliefs of his time, siding with the common people and rejecting the clergy who he often saw as corrupt. Bedil's poetry is criticised for its complex and implicit meanings however it is much welcomed in Afghanistan rather than other Persian countries. The language of Bedil is as complicated as his thoughts. His sentence structure and use of images often requires time to comprehend, being as difficult for a Dari speaker as Shakespeare is for the modern English speaker.His poetry plays a major role in Afghan Classical Music. Many Afghan Classical Musicians have sung plenty of Bedil's Ghazals.

Bedil died in the year 1720. His grave, called Bagh-e-Bedil (Garden of Bedil) is situated at Mathura Road in Delhi. Ustaad Sayed Mohammad Daoud Al'Hossaini, an Afghan Bedil expert, arguably showed that seven months after his funeral, Bedil's body was brought back by friends and relatives from Delhi to Khwaja Rawash in Kabul, where the relatives of Barlas-e Tshaghatai lived. The grave is also called Bagh-e-Bedil (Garden of Bedil).

***

جھان در سرمھ خوابید از خیال چشم فتانت
چھ سنگین بود یارب سایھ ی دیوار مژگانت

The world slept in mascara, thinking of your seductive eyes.
My Lord, how great was the shadow cast by the wall of your eye lashes.

Kohl would be a better choice for Surmah :)

*****

تحّیُر بر سرا پای تو وا کردہ است آغوشی
کھ چون طاؤس نتوان دید بیرون گلستانت

****

نشاط جاودان خواھی دلی را صید الفت کن
کھ مستی ھاست موقوفِ بدست آوردنِ مینا

*****

تو کار خویش کن، اینجا تویی در من نمی گنجد
گریبان عالمی دارد که در دامن نمی گنجد

*******


Abdul Rahman Jami says about Moulana Rumi

من چه گویم وصف آن عالی‌جناب — نیست پیغمبر ولی دارد کتاب

مثنوی معنوی مولوی — هست قرآن در زبان پهلوی

What can I say in praise of that great one?
He is not a Prophet but has come with a book;
The Spiritual Masnavi of Mowlavi
Is the Qur'an in the language of Pahlavi (Persian).
*******

ABDUR RAHMAN JAAMI

Among his works are:

* Baharistan (Abode of Spring) Modeled upon the Gulistan of Saadi
* Nafahat al-Uns (Breaths of Fellowship) Biographies of the Sufi saints
* Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) His major poetical work. The fifth of the seven stories is his acclaimed "Yusuf and Zulaykha" which tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife based on the Holy Quran.
* Lawa'ih A treatise on Sufism
* Diwanha-i Sehganeh (Triplet Divans)
* Tajnīs ’al-luġāt (Homonymy/Punning of Languages) A lexicographical work containing homonymous Persian and Arabic lemmata.

Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami (Persian: نورالدین عبدالرحمن جامی) (August 18, 1414–November 19, 1492) was one of the greatest Persian poets in the 15th century

***


Moulana Nuruddin Abdorrahman Jami
Jami: dervish

Jami, the last great poet in classical Persian, was man of surpassing talents born into the flowering of culture under the Timurid rulers at Herat. Moulana Nuruddin Abdorrahman Jami, to give him his full name — Jam means wine goblet — was born at a small town in Khorasan, now Afghanistan, in 1414, and died in Herat in 1492. He learned Arabic and Persian from his father, was further educated in Herat, but then studied under Ghazi-zadeh Ruhm in Samarqand, returning to Herat to study philosophy and mathematics. A deeply religious man, Jami then joined the dervish circle of Khaja Saaduddin Kashghari. When the poet — who was a Sunni in a predominantly Shia community — made the haj to Mecca in 1472 he was very well known. Lavish offers were made to him from the courts of the Ottoman and Timurid rulers, but, against the pattern of the times, Jami preferred his own quiet search for truth to honours and luxury under foreign rulers. He wrote many books of poetry, theology and grammar — 44 to 99, accounts differ — and at the age of 70 completed his masterpiece: Yusuf and Zulaikha. Jami was an independent man with a good sense of humour, and often annoyed his fellow writers with sharp comments on their wisdom and humility. Much of his poetry is still read.


Jami's poetry
Jami's poetry

Jami wrote copiously, and among his prose works are Nafahatul Uns (Breaths of the Breeze of Friendship), Beharistan (Abode of Spring) and biographies of Sufi Saints. Baharistan, which he wrote for his son, is in the style of Saadi's Rose-Garden. In addition to Saadi, he modelled himself on Hafez and Nizami. Best known among the poetry are Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones of Grace: over 25,000 couplets), Salaman and Absal (a version of Leila and Majnun), Khiradnameh Iskandar (Alexander's Wisdom) and Yusuf and Zulaikha. Zuleika, the daughter of the king of Mauretania, saw repeatedly in a dream someone of such beauty that she fell in love with the vision. Finally, the apparition is named as Egypt, the figure as Yusuf (Joseph), and Zuleika plays the part of Potiphar's wife.


Jami was born in a village near Jam, then Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan is a modern term for a historical geographic region spanning north-eastern and east of Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, western and northern Afghanistan and the North Western Areas of Pakistan...

, now located in Ghor Province of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...

, but a few years after his birth, his family migrated to the cultural city of Herat
Herat
Herāt , classically called the Aria, is a major city in western Afghanistan, in the province also known as Herāt. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan,...

where he was able to study Peripateticism, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....

, Arabic literature
Arabic literature
Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers of the Arabic language. It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature...

, natural sciences, and Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies, and is a longstanding attempt to create harmony between philosophy and the religious teachings of Islam .-Definition:...

at the Nizamiyyah
Nizamiyyah
A nizamiyya , is one of the medieval institutions of higher education established by Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk in the eleventh century in present-day Iran. The name nizamiyyah derives from his name...

University of Herat.

Because his father was from Dasht, Jami's early pen name was Dashti but later, he chose to use Jami because of the two reasons which he mentioned in a poem:

مولدم جام و رشحهء قلمم

جرعهء جام شیخ الاسلامی است

لاجرم در جریدهء اشعار

به دو معنی تخلصم جامی است

My birthplace is Jam, and my pen
Has drunk from (knowledge of) Sheikh-ol-Islam (Ahmad) Jam
Sheikh Ahmad-e Jami
Ahmad Ibn Abolhasan Jāmi-e Nāmaghi-e Torshizi better known as Sheikh Ahhmad-e Jami or Sheikh Ahmad-i Jami or Sheikh Ahmad-e jam or Sheikh-e Jam or simply Ahmad-e Jam was a Persian Sufi , Sufi writer , Mystic and poet . His Mazar is located in Torbat-e Jam...

Hence in the books of poetry
My pen name is Jami for these two reasons.



Afterwards he went to Samarkand

Samarkand:

Samarkand is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the city's most famous...

, the most important center of scientific studies in the Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Muslims, adherents of Islam. This community numbers about 1.3-1.5 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world population. This community is spread across many different nations and ethnic...

and completed his studies there. He was a famous Sufi
Sufism
Sufism or ' , also spelled as tasavvuf and tasavvof, is generally understood to be the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ' , though some adherents of the tradition reserve this term only for those practitioners who have attained the goals...

, and a follower of the Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi
Naqshbandi is one of the major tasawwuf orders of Islam. The order is considered to be a "sober" order as many following the Naqshbandi Sufi way have chosen the silent dhikr of the Heart, rather than the vocalized forms of dhikr common in other orders.The Naqshbandi Order is the only Sufi order...

Sufi Order. At the end of his life he was living in Herat.

Jami had a brother called Molana Mohammad, who was, apparently a learned man and a master in music, and Jami has a poem lamenting his death. Jami fathered four sons, but three of them died before reaching their first year. The surviving son was called Zia-ol-din Yusef and Jami wrote his Baharestan for this son.


Teachings

In his role as Sufi shaykh, Jami expounded a number of teachings regarding following the Sufi path. In his view, love was the fundamental stepping stone for starting on the spiritual journey. To a student who claimed never to have loved, he said, "Go and love first, then come to me and I will show you the way."
Works

Jami wrote approximately eighty-seven books and letters, some of which have been translated into English. His works range from prose to poetry, and from the mundane to the religious. He has also written works of history. His poetry has been inspired by the ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...

s of Hafez
Hafez
Khwāja Šamsu d-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī , known by his pen name Hāfez was the most celebrated Persian lyric poet and is often described as a poet's poet. His Divan is to be found at the home of most Iranians who recite his poems by heart and use as proverb and saying to this day...

, and his Haft Awrang
Haft Awrang
Haft Awrang by Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami is a classic of Persian literature composed some time between 1468 to 1485...

is, by his own admission, influenced by the works of Nezami
Nezami
Nezāmi-ye Ganjavi , or Nezāmi , whose formal name was Niżām ad-Dīn Abū Muḥammad Ilyās ibn-Yūsuf ibn-Zakī ibn-Mu‘ayyad, is considered the greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic...

.
Divan
Divan
Dīvān or dīwān was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official .-Etymology:...

of Jami

Among his works are:

* Baharistan (Abode of Spring) Modeled upon the Gulistan of Saadi
Saadi
Saadi or Sadi may refer to:geography:* Sədi, village in Azerbaijan*Sadi, Nepalfamily name:* Saadi dynasty, a dynasty of Morocco* Saadi , medieval Persian Sufi poet* Dheyaa al-Saadi, Iraqi lawyer...

* Nafahat al-Uns (Breaths of Fellowship) Biographies of the Sufi saints
* Haft Awrang
Haft Awrang
Haft Awrang by Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami is a classic of Persian literature composed some time between 1468 to 1485...

(Seven Thrones) His major poetical work. The fifth of the seven stories is his acclaimed "Yusuf and Zulaykha" which tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife based on the Quran.
* Lawa'ih A treatise on Sufism
* Diwanha-i Sehganeh (Triplet Divans)
* Tajnīs ’al-luġāt (Homonymy/Punning of Languages) A lexicographical work containing homonymous Persian and Arabic lemmata.

*******
NIZAMI GANJAVI

Nezami Ganjavi, born. circa. 1141, in Ganja, during Seljuq empire era and died in 1209, Ganja, is greatest romantic epic poet in Persian literature, who brought a colloquial and realistic style to the Persian epic.
Little is known of Nezami's life. Orphaned at a young age, he spent his entire life in Ganja, leaving only once to meet the ruling prince. Although he enjoyed the patronage of a number of rulers and princes, he was distinguished by his simple life and straightforward character.
Only a handful of his qasidahs ("odes") and ghazals ("lyrics") have survived; his reputation rests on his great Khamseh ("The Quintuplet"), a pentalogy of poems written in masnavi verse form (rhymed couplets) and totaling 30,000 couplets. Drawing inspiration from the Persian epic poets Ferdowsi and Sana`i, he proved himself the first great dramatic poet of Persian literature. The first poem in the pentology is the didactic poem Makhzan al-asrar (The Treasury of Mysteries), the second the romantic epic Khosrow o-Shirin ("Khosrow and Shirin"). The third is his rendition of a well-known story in Islamic folklore, Leyli o-Mejnun (The Story of Leyla and Majnun). The fourth poem, Haft Paykar (The Seven Beauties), is considered his masterwork. The final poem in the pentalogy is the Sikandar or Eskandar-nameh ("Book of Alexander the Great"; Eng. trans. of part I, The Eskander Nama), a philosophical portrait of Alexander.
Nizami is admired in Persian-speaking lands for his originality and clarity of style, though his love of language for its own sake and of philosophical and scientific learning makes his work difficult for the average reader. The Khamseh was so powerful in the literary sense that a couple of later poets tried to imitate him each with a varying degree of success. These include: Amirkhosrow Dehlavi, Vahshi Bafghi, Salman Saveji, and Khajoye Kermani. Nezami Ganjavi's impression on such great poets like Hafez, Rumi, and Saadi can be easily discerned from a simple comparative reading of their works.

*****
FARIDDUDDIN ATTAR

Farid al-Din Attar (b. ca. 1142 (est.) - d. ca. 1230) (also spelled Fariduddin Attar) was born in Neishapour, in the Iranian province of Khorasan, and died in the same city. He lived almost a hundred years. Some scholars believe he was killed during the raid and destruction of his city by the Mongol invaders. His tomb is in Neishapour.

Attar is one of the most famous mystic poets of Iran. His works were the inspiration of Rumi and many other mystic poets. Attar along with Sanaie were two of the greatest influences on Rumi in his sufic views. Rumi has mentioned both of them with the highest esteem several times in his poetry. Rumi praises Attar as such: Attar roamed the seven cities of love -- We are still just in one alley.

Attar was a pen-name which he took for his occupation. Attar means herbalist, druggist and perfumist and during his lifetime in Persia, much of medicine and drugs were based in herbs. Therefore by profession he was similar to a modern day town doctor and pharmacistPharmacists are health professionals who practice pharmacy. Pharmacists are highly-trained and skilled healthcare professionals who perform various roles to ensure optimal health outcomes for their patients. Pharmacists typically take an order for medicin.

He is one of the most prolific figures of the Persian literaturePersian literature is literature written in Persian, or by Persians in other languages. Notable Forms and Genres Ghazal Qasida Musammat Noted Authors Classic Attar, poet (about 1130-about 1230) Ferdowsi, poet ( 925- 1020) Hafez, poet (born about 1310- 132. He wrote over a hundred works of varying lengths from just a few pages to voluminous tomes. About thirty of his works have survived. His most well-known and popular work is Mantiq at-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds). His other popular work is Asrarnameh (The Book of Secrets). Generally speaking, most of his books are popular and relatively easy to read.

His Mantiq at-Tayr (The Conference of the BirdsConference of the Birds (Manteq at-Tair, 1177) is a mystic poem by Farid ud-Din Attar of approximately 4500 lines. The poem uses a journey by a group of birds as an allegory of sufism. BooksEnthsiast.com) is one of the definitive masterpieces of all Persian literature. Besides being one of the most beautiful examples of Persian poetry, this book relies on a clever word play between the words Simorgh — a mysterious bird in Iranian mythology which is a symbol often found in sufi literature, and similar to the phoenix bird — and "si morgh" — meaning "thirty birds" in Persian. The stories recounts the longing of a group of birds who desire to know the great Simorgh, and who under the guidance of a leader bird start their journey toward the land of Simorgh. One by one, they drop out of the journey, each offering an excuse and unable to endure the journey. Within the larger context of the story of the journey of the birds, Attar masterfully tells the reader many didactic short, sweet stories in captivating poetic style. Eventually only thirty birds remain as they finally arrive in the land of Simorgh — all they see there are each other and the reflection of the thirty birds in a lake — not the mythical Simorgh. It is the Sufi doctrine that God is not external or separate from the universe, rather is the totality of existence. The thirty birds seeking the Simorgh realise that Simorgh is nothing more than their transcendent totality. This concept has been compared as being similar to "Universal Pantheism" in western philosophy.

There is solid evidence that Rumi met Attar as a young boy as Rumi's family abandoned the city of BalkhBalkh is now a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital. Mazar-i-Sharif, and some 46 miles (74 km) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, which formerly flowed past Balkh.. On their way, Rumi's father came to visit Attar. It is reported that Attar gave a copy of one of his mystic poetry books to the young Jalal o-Din (who was not called Rumi or Molana until much later when he became the great mystic and poet as he is known today). Their meeting has been reported by various sources, including by Rumi's own son Hassam al-Din.

****
SA'IB TABRIZI

He was born in 1601/02, Tabrīz, Iran and died in circa 1677

Persian poet, one of the greatest masters of a form of classical Arabic and Persian lyric poetry characterized by rhymed couplets and known as the ghazel.

Ṣāʾib was educated in Eṣfahān, and in about 1626/27 he traveled to India, where he was received into the court of Shāh Jahān. He stayed for a time in Kabul and in Kashmir, returning home after several years abroad. After his return Shāh ʿAbbas II bestowed upon him the title King of Poets.
*******


ZAIBUNNISA
AURANGZEB'S DAUGHTER




Mughal history ignores women of the empire, including Emperor Aurangzeb’s daughter Zeb-un-Nissa: patron of the arts, poet, and a keeper of several lovers – according to rumours. The eldest daughter, she was Aurangzeb’s close companion for several years. She was born in 1638 to Dilras Bano of the Persian Safavid dynasty. Loved by Aurangzeb, she was named carefully to reflect his station.
A favourite, she was exposed to the affairs of the Mughal court. With a sound education in the arts, languages, astronomy and sciences of the day, Zeb-un-Nissa turned into an aware and sensitive princess. She never married and kept herself occupied by poetry and a spiritual Sufi quest.




This is the irony – Aurangzeb’s daughter was an antithesis of her father’s persona and politics. Zeb-un-Nissa was both a Sufi and a gifted poet. The Divan-i-Makhfi – a major divan – is credited to her name. Given her father’s dislike for poetry, she could only be makhfi – the invisible. There was subversion too – like all rebels she attended and participated in the literary and cultural events of her age, dressed in her veil. Unlike her puritanical father, Zeb-un-Nissa did not share her father’s orthodox views on religion and society. Steeped in mystic thought, her ghazals sang of love, freedom and inner experience:

“Though I am Laila of Persian romance
my heart loves like ferocious Majnun
I want to go to the desert
but modesty is chains on my feet
A nightingale came to the flower garden
because she was my pupil
I am an expert in things of love
Even the moth is my disciple!”
(translated by Willis Barnstone)
Her verses, comprising 400 ghazals, and
published as Divan-i-Makhfi would have
bothered Aurangzeb.
Her inclusive poetic vision, comprising
the 400 ghazals in the Divan-i-Makhfi, ran
against the puritanical state and society that
Aurangzeb cherished.
‘I bow before the image of my Love’
No Muslim I
But an idolater
I bow before the image of my Love
And worship her
No Brahman I
My sacred thread
I cast away, for round my neck I wear
Her plaited hair instead
(Divan-e-Makhfi)

In her poetry Makhfi – the hidden or invisible
one – is a metaphor for her invisibility at the main Court and at the cosmic level the invisibility of God.
One of her long time companions was the émigré Iranian poet Ashraf. It is said that theirs was more than friendship and a literary association, and that there were hints of indiscreet liaisons. However, no direct evidence on this subject exists.

Zeb-un-Nissa is also said to have been excessively fond of one particular kaneez (serving girl), Mian Bai. This intimacy was a subject of gossip. Perhaps it was the same Mian Bai who was gifted the Chauburji garden in Lahore.The Chauburji building has the Ayat-ul-Kursi inscribed on the main gate. The date of its completion was recorded as 1646 AD by SM Latif, the famous Lahore historian who translated the Persian verse carved at the monument entrance:
This garden, in the pattern of Paradise,
has been founded
The garden has been bestowed on Mian
Bai
By the beauty of Zebinda Begam, the lady
of the age

According to Latif, Mian Bai was the favourite female attendant of Zeb-un-Nissa. Shah Jahan Nama also throws some light on the gardens and their gift to the lucky Bai.
Since Mian Bai had supervised the laying out of these gardens, the local people called it Mian Bai’s gardens. Respecting local opinion, Zeb-un-Nissa bequeathed these gardens to her favourite slave girl. Eventually, she fell out of royal favour, not for her eclectic pursuits but for the rebellion of her brother Akbar, who proclaimed himself as emperor in 1681. While the rebellion was short and unsuccessful, Zebun-Nissa kept corresponding with her exiled brother; this landed her imprisonment in a Delhi fortress until her death in 1702. A recent book, Captive Princess: Zeb-un- Nissa, daughter of Emperor Aurangzeb, attempts to examine the causes of her imprisonment,
her worldview and reconstructs her life. The work highlights the political differences that she developed with her father and shows how alien Aurangzeb’s style of governance
was to her soul. She never accompanied him on his Deccan campaigns. Jadu Nath Sarkar states that Zeb-un-Nissa
died in Delhi and was buried in the ‘Garden of Thirty Thousand Trees’ outside the Kabuli gate. It is said that when the railway line was laid at Delhi, her tomb was demolished, and the coffin and the inscribed tombstone were shifted to Akbar’s mausoleum at Sikandara Agra. According to SM Latif, a poet versified her chronogram in the following words:

A fountain of learning, virtue, beauty and
elegance
She was hidden as Joseph was in the well
I asked reason the year of her death
The invisible voice exclaimed: ‘the moon
became concealed’

Latif writes that the last phrase mahmakhfi- shud cannot be adequately translated. Literally it means the concealed moon, but makhfi was also the nom de plume of Zeb-un-Nissa and there is a meaningful wordplay here. However, much as we make conjectures about a full life lived, a good measure of the passions and poetry of the princess shall remain concealed and quite un-translatabl

******

NAATH BY JAMI


transliterated from the video clips posted today on the sunniport front page from the classical Farsi naat by Hazrat e Jami My translation is as follows, may Allah and the Habib accept it and give me and all of us a portion of Jami's love!

tanam farsoodeh, jaan para zi hijran ya rasoolallah
dilam pazh murdah, aavaareh, zi isyaan ya rasoolallah
my body is weak, my soul is in pieces due to your separation O Messenger of Allah!
My heart is withered, a vagabond, due to my sins O Messenger of Allah!


zi jaam e hub e tau mastam, ba zanjeer e tau bastam
na migoyam ke man hastam sukhandaan ya rasoolallah
I am drunk with the wine of your love, I am imprisoned by your chains
I do not say that I am a poet O Messenger of Allah!

choo soo ye man guzar aayee man e miskeen e naadaree
fida e naqsh e naalaaynat kunam jaan ya rasoolallah
When you come towards me, (if you) don't have wretched me
I will sacrifice my soul for the footprints of your shoes O Messenger of Allah!

zi kardeh khaish e khayraanam, syaah shud rooz e isyaanam
pashemaanam pashemaanan pashemaan ya rasoolallah!
I am perplexed about my previous deeds; that I will be blackfaced on Judgement Day
I am distressed! I am distressed! Distressed O Messenger of Allah!

choon baazoo e shafaat ra kushaayee ba gunehgaaraan
makun mehroom jami ra dar aan ya rasool allah
when you spread out your arms of intercession for the sinners
Please do not disappoint Jami at that time O Messenger of Allah!


*******


شاعر : عبدالرحمٰن جامی

زبان : فارسی

نسیما جانب بطحا گزر کن

------------------------------------


نسیما ! جانب بطحا گزر کن

زا حوالم محمد را خبر کن

توئی سلطان عالم یا محمد

زروئے لطف سوئے من نظر کن

بہ برایں جان مشتاقم بہ آنجا

فدائے روضہ خیر البشر کن

مشرف گرچہ شد جامی زلطفش

خدایا ! ایں کرم با ر دگر کن
---------------------------

HAFIZ


Hafiz
حافظ
Ghazal 2

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Where is sensible action, & my insanity whence?
See the difference, it is from where to whence.
From the church & hypocritical vestments, I take offence
Where is the abode of the Magi, & sweet wine whence?
For dervishes, piety and sensibility make no sense
Where is sermon and hymn, & the violin's music whence.
Upon seeing our friend, our foes put up their defense
Where is a dead lantern, & the candle of the sun whence?
My eye-liner is the dust of your door and fence
Where shall I go, tell me, you command me whence?
Take your focus from your chin to the trap on the path hence,
Where to O heart, in such hurry you go whence?
May his memory of union be happy and intense
Where are your amorous gestures, & your reproach whence?
Make not restlessness & insomnia, Hafiz's sentence
What is rest, which is patience, and sleep whence?

© Shahriar Shahriari
Los Angeles, Ca
Februaru 1, 2000

صـلاح کار کـجا و مـن خراب کـجا
بـبین تـفاوت ره کز کجاست تا به کجا
دلـم ز صومعه بگرفت و خرقـه سالوس
کـجاسـت دیر مغان و شراب ناب کجا
چـه نسبت است به رندی صلاح و تقوا را
سـماع وعـظ کـجا نغمـه رباب کجا
ز روی دوست دل دشمـنان چـه دریابد
چراغ مرده کـجا شمـع آفـتاب کـجا
چو کحل بینش ما خاک آستان شماست
کـجا رویم بـفرما از این جـناب کـجا
مبین به سیب زنخدان که چاه در راه است
کـجا همی‌روی ای دل بدین شتاب کجا
بـشد کـه یاد خوشش باد روزگار وصال
خود آن کرشمه کجا رفت و آن عتاب کجا
قرار و خواب ز حافظ طمع مدار ای دوست
قرار چیسـت صبوری کدام و خواب کـجا
*****


Hafiz
حافظ
Ghazal 1



O beautiful wine-bearer, bring forth the cup and put it to my lips
Path of love seemed easy at first, what came was many hardships.
With its perfume, the morning breeze unlocks those beautiful locks
The curl of those dark ringlets, many hearts to shreds strips.
In the house of my Beloved, how can I enjoy the feast
Since the church bells call the call that for pilgrimage equips.
With wine color your robe, one of the old Magi’s best tips
Trust in this traveler’s tips, who knows of many paths and trips.
The dark midnight, fearful waves, and the tempestuous whirlpool
How can he know of our state, while ports house his unladen ships.
I followed my own path of love, and now I am in bad repute
How can a secret remain veiled, if from every tongue it drips?
If His presence you seek, Hafiz, then why yourself eclipse?
Stick to the One you know, let go of imaginary trips.



الا یا ایها الـساقی ادر کاسا و ناولـها
که عشق آسان نمود اول ولی افتاد مشکل‌ها
بـه بوی نافه‌ای کاخر صبا زان طره بگـشاید
ز تاب جعد مشکینش چه خون افـتاد در دل‌ها
مرا در منزل جانان چه امـن عیش چون هر دم
جرس فریاد می‌دارد که بربندید مـحـمـل‌ها
بـه می سجاده رنگین کن گرت پیر مغان گوید
کـه سالک بی‌خبر نبود ز راه و رسم منزل‌ها
شـب تاریک و بیم موج و گردابی چنین هایل
کـجا دانـند حال ما سبکـباران ساحـل‌ها
همـه کارم ز خود کامی به بدنامی کشید آخر
نـهان کی ماند آن رازی کز او سازند محفل‌ها
حضوری گر همی‌خواهی از او غایب مشو حافظ
مـتی ما تلق من تهوی دع الدنیا و اهملـها

****

ALLAMA IQBAL

پیامِ مشرق
می باقے
غزل

ہوای فرودین در گلستان میخانہ میسازد
سبو از غنچہ می ریزد ز گل پیمانہ می سازد
محبت چون تمام افتد رقابت از میان خیزد
بہ طوف شعلہ ئی پروانہ با پروانہ می سازد
بہ ساز زندگی سوزی بہ سوز زندگی سازے
چہ بیدردانہ می سوزد چہ بیتابانہ می سازد
تنش از سایۂ بال تذروی لرزہ می گیرد
چو شاہین زادۂ اندر قفس با دانہ می سازد
بگو اقبال را ای باغبان رخت از چمن بندد
کہ این جادو نوا ما را ز گل بیگانہ می سازد

(اقبال)
The breeze of spring makes of
The garden a wine‐tavern.
It casts buds into jar‐shapes,
And makes of flowers cups.
When love attains its climax, then
No rivalry remains.
In flitting round a candle moths
Join hands with one another.
Life builds, but also burns;
And what it burns it builds again.
How ruthlessly it burns!
How eagerly it builds!
An eagle in a cage,
When he accepts food offered,
Becomes so timid that he trembles
On seeing shadows of quails wings.
O gardener, tell Iqbal
To be off from the garden,
For this spellbinding singer
Makes men forget the roses

*****