Poems on Hafez’s tomb

Posted on August 26, 2018 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Hafez’s tomb was first constructed in 1452, around sixty years after his death by the Timurid governor of Shiraz, and has been renovated and expanded many times since, often in response to divination performed with his Divan. The tomb is adorned with calligraphic renditions of these ghazals of his, which happen to be among my very favorite:

Translation:

Tell me of your arrival, from this life to you I’ll rise!

I am heaven’s bird and from this world’s snare I will rise

For your friendship, if you should want me as a slave

from the rulership of the whole cosmos I will rise

O Lord, may your cloud of guidance rain down upon me

before, as scattered dust, into the air, I rise

Beside my dust, with wine and song, come and take a seat

drawn by your scent, dancing from my tomb, I will arise

Rise up, o sweet idol, and show your stature’s grace

and from this soul and world, with clapping hands I will rise

though I am old, hold me close all night long in your embrace

then in the morning, young and fresh, from your side I will rise

The day I die, with my last breath, let me see your face

So that like Hafez, from this world and place, I will arise

Original:

مژده وصل تو کو کز سر جان برخیزم

طایر قدسم و از دام جهان برخیزم

به ولای تو که گر بنده خویشم خوانی

از سر خواجگی کون و مکان برخیزم

یا رب از ابر هدایت برسان بارانی

پیشتر زان که چو گردی ز میان برخیزم

بر سر تربت من با می و مطرب بنشین

تا به بویت ز لحد رقص کنان برخیزم

خیز و بالا بنما ای بت شیرین حرکات

کز سر جان و جهان دست فشان برخیزم

گر چه پیرم تو شبی تنگ در آغوشم کش

تا سحرگه ز کنار تو جوان برخیزم

روز مرگم نفسی مهلت دیدار بده

تا چو حافظ ز سر جان و جهان برخیزم

This poem was most likely written as a tribute to Hafez by a later Shi’ite author, but it still adorns his tomb (thanks to N.A. for help with the translation):

Translation:

O heart be the servant of the King of the world and be a king yourself

and always remain under the protection of divine grace

From a foreigner, they won’t buy a thousand for a penny

Let from peak to peak be full of the army of hypocrisy

when Ahmad is my intercessor on the day of resurrection

Say to this blasted body of mine, “be sinful”

The one who is not a friend of ‘Ali is veiled

whether he is the ascetic of his time or a Master of the way

O Ali, I am alive today with your friendship/sanctity

tomorrow I will be a witness to the pure spirit of the Imams

The grave of the eighth Imam, the Sultan of religion, Riḍa,

Kiss it from your soul and be a companion of that court

If your hand cannot reach a flower from that branch

be a plant at the foot of their flower-stem

The man of God who seeks piety

it does’t matter whether his cloak is white or black

Hafez, take the path of servanthood to the king

and then be like the men of the way on the path

Original:

ای دل غلام شاه جهان باش و شاه باش

پـیـوسـتـه در حـمـایـت لطـف اله باش

از خارجـی هزار به یک جو نمی خرند

گو، کوه تا به کـوه منـافق سپـاه بـاش

چون احمدم شـفـیع بود روز رسـتخیز

گو این تن بـلاکش مـن پـرگنـاه بـاش*

آن را که دوستی علی نیست کافر است

گـو زاهـد زمانـه و گو شـیخ راه بـاش**

امـروز زنـده ام بـه ولای تـو یا عـلی

فـردا به روح پـاک امامان گـواه بـاش

قبر امام هشـتم و سـلطان دیـن رضـا

از جان ببوس و بر در آن بارگاه باش

دستت نمی رسد که بچینی گلی زشاخ

بـاری به پـای گلبن ایشـان گیاه بـاش

مرد خـدا شـنـاس که تـقـوی طلب کند

خواهی سپید جامه و خواهی سیاه باش

حـافظ طریـق بـنـدگی شـاه پـیـشـه کن

وانگاه در طریق چـو مـردان راه بـاش

Translation:

The garden of eternity is in the retreat of the dervishes

the very essence of grandeur is the service of the dervishes

The treasury of glory that is sealed by the talisman of wonders

opens at the merciful glance of the dervishes

The castle of paradise for which Rezwan is the doorkeeper

is but a view from the lawn of the dervishes

That which by its radiance turns black hearts to gold

is the alchemy that is the company of the dervishes

That before which the sun lays down its crown of glory

is the greatness that comes from the grandeur of the dervishes

The power/state (dawlat) whose decline need never be feared

without exaggeration, is the power/state of the dervishes

The kings are the qiblah to which we direct our needs

and this is because they are the slaves of the dervishes

That which kings seek to achieve in their prayers

is manifested in the mirror of the countenance of the dervishes

From shore to shore is the army of tyranny,

but from beginningless eternity to eternity without end is the time of the dervishes

O rich man, don’t sell us so much vanity

for your health and wealth are in the hands of the will (himmat) of the dervishes

Korah’s treasure, which still is still sinking from heaven’s severity

is an effect of the wrath of the dervishes

Hafez, if you’re seeking the eternal water of life

its spring is the dust of the retreat of the dervishes

I am the slave of the Asaf of my time

because he has the looks of a nobleman and the character of the dervishes.

Original:

روضه خلد برین خلوت درویشان است

مایه محتشمی خدمت درویشان است

گنج عزلت که طلسمات عجایب دارد

فتح آن در نظر رحمت درویشان است

قصر فردوس که رضوانش به دربانی رفت

منظری از چمن نزهت درویشان است

آن چه زر می‌شود از پرتو آن قلب سیاه

کیمیاییست که در صحبت درویشان است

آن که پیشش بنهد تاج تکبر خورشید

کبریاییست که در حشمت درویشان است

دولتی را که نباشد غم از آسیب زوال

بی تکلف بشنو دولت درویشان است

خسروان قبله حاجات جهانند ولی

سببش بندگی حضرت درویشان است

روی مقصود که شاهان به دعا می‌طلبند

مظهرش آینه طلعت درویشان است

از کران تا به کران لشکر ظلم است ولی

از ازل تا به ابد فرصت درویشان است

ای توانگر مفروش این همه نخوت که تو را

سر و زر در کنف همت درویشان است

گنج قارون که فرو می‌شود از قهر هنوز

خوانده باشی که هم از غیرت درویشان است

حافظ ار آب حیات ازلی می‌خواهی

منبعش خاک در خلوت درویشان است

من غلام نظر آصف عهدم کو را

صورت خواجگی و سیرت درویشان است

Translation:

The dust of my body is the veil of the face of the beloved of my soul

happy is the moment when from off this face, I cast the veil

Even so, this cage is no good for a sweet singer such as me

I will go to the rose garden of paradise, for I am a bird of that field

It is not clear why I came where I went

my regret and pain is that I have been heedless of my own affair

Oh how I circumambulate in the space of the holy world

but in this flat, compounded abode, I am bound to my body

If the scent of musk issues from my heart’s blood

do not wonder, my friend, for I am the musk gland of Khotan

Do not look at the golden embroidery of my cloak like a candle

for there is burning hidden within this cloak

Come and take Hafez’s existence from him

so that by your being, none will hear from me that I am

Original:

حجاب چهره جان می‌شود غبار تنم

خوشا دمی که از آن چهره پرده برفکنم

چنین قفس نه سزای چو من خوش الحانیست

روم به گلشن رضوان که مرغ آن چمنم

عیان نشد که چرا آمدم کجا رفتم

دریغ و درد که غافل ز کار خویشتنم

چگونه طوف کنم در فضای عالم قدس

که در سراچه ترکیب تخته بند تنم

اگر ز خون دلم بوی شوق می‌آید

عجب مدار که همدرد نافه ختنم

طراز پیرهن زرکشم مبین چون شمع

که سوزهاست نهانی درون پیرهنم

بیا و هستی حافظ ز پیش او بردار

که با وجود تو کس نشنود ز من که منم

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLBs-iUKGxQ

She walks in beauty like the night…

Posted on August 26, 2018 by sulaymanibnqiddees

One of my favorite English poems of all time is reminiscent of Sufi poetry about Layla, whose name means “night,” and who symbolizes the beloved Divine Essence/Essence of the Self.

Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Rumi

Translation:

You look through my two eyes, you are closer to me than myself

Your light shines brighter than the moon

Come into the garden so that the glory of the rose garden is humbled

that it may be more beautiful and blooming than a hundred gardens and rosebeds

so that the cedar will hide its height in shame

that the tongue of the lily will declare you more lily than itself
When you are kind, you are the candle of the soul, soft and pliable as wax

When you are aloof, you are more iron than iron
Do no be wild because you will meet her face to face
her charm will make you as cool and pliant as the earth
Throw away your armor and bare your chest at the moment of battle
there is no better protection nor armor than her.
That’s why in every Sufi retreat, all the openings are are sealed shut
so that from your light the house becomes more illumined

Orignal:

در دو چشم من نشین ای آن که از من منتری

تا قمر را وانمایم کز قمر روشنتری

اندرآ در باغ تا ناموس گلشن بشکند

ز آنک از صد باغ و گلشن خوشتر و گلشنتری

تا که سرو از شرم قدت قد خود پنهان کند

تا زبان اندرکشد سوسن که تو سوسنتری

وقت لطف ای شمع جان مانند مومی نرم و رام

وقت ناز از آهن پولاد تو آهنتری

چون فلک سرکش مباش ای نازنین کز ناز او

نرم گردی چون زمین گر از فلک توسنتری

زان برون انداخت جوشن حمزه وقت کارزار

کز هزاران حصن و جوشن روح را جوشنتری

زان سبب هر خلوتی سوراخ روزن را ببست

کز برای روشنی تو خانه را روشنتری

Ibn al-Farid

Translation:

Every part of me kissed her veil

With every mouth whose touch held every kiss

If she dissolved my body, she would see in every atom

each and every heart filled with each and every love

Original:

ويلثم مني كلّ جزء لثامها

بكلّ فم فى لثمه كلّ قبلة

فلو بسطت جسمي رأت كلّ جوهر

به كلّ قلب فيه كلّ محبة

Translation:

If I sought consolation, who would be there to be my guide

when in love, every leader follows my lead?

In my every limb is every yearning for her

and every longing tugs at my reins

As she bends, I imagine every hip she moves

to be a branch in a sand dune topped by the full moon

Mine is every limb filled with every inner core

wherein, when she glances, is embedded every arrow

And if she dissolved my body she would find every atom

every heart inhabited by every human love

In union with her, a year to me is but an instant,

an hour’s separation like a year.

When we met at nightfall, as the twin straight paths

between her dwelling and my tents brought us together,

We moved away a little from the tribe,

avoiding spies and slanderers with their deceitful talk

I spread my cheek upon the ground for her to walk upon

and she said, “Good news, now you may kiss my veil.”

But this my soul did not permit me, jealously

shielding her from me, for higher is my purpose

We passed the night in hope as my wish decreed

and I saw the world my kingdom and time itself my slave.

Translation modified from Stefan Sperl’s in Stefan Sperl, C. Shackle, Qasida Poetry in Islamic Asia and Africa

Original:

بمنْ أهتَدي في الحبِّ لو رُمْتُ سَلوَةً
وبي يقتَدي ، في الحبِّ ، كلُّ إمامِ

وفي كلِّ عُضوٍ فيَّ كلُّ صبابَةٍ
إليها ، وشَوْقٍ جَاذِبٍ بِزِمَامي

تَثَنَّتْ ، فَخِلْنا كلَّ عِطْفٍ تهُزُّهُ
قَضيبَ نقاً ، يَعْلُوهُ بَدْرُ تَمامِ

ولي كلُّ عُضوٍ ، فيهِ كلُّ حشىً بها
إذا ما رَنَتْ ، وَقْعٌ لكلِّ سِهامِ

ولوْ بسطتْ جسْمي رأتْ كلَّ جوهرٍ
بهِ كلُّ قلبٍ ، فيهِ كلُّ غَرامِ

وفي وَصْلِها ، عامٌ لدَيَّ كَلَحْظَةٍ
وساعَةُ هِجْرَانٍ عَلَيَّ كَعَامِ

ولمَّا تَلاقَينا عِشاءً ، وضَمَّنا
سواءُ سبيلَيْ دَارِها وخِيامي

ومِلْنا كذا شيئاً عنِ الحيِّ ، حيثُ لا
رَقيبٌ ، ولا وَاشٍ بِزَوْرِ كَلامِ

فرَشْتُ لها خَدِّي ، وِطاءً ، على الثَّرَى
فقالتْ : لكَ البُشرَى بِلَثمِ لِثامي

فما سَمَحَتْ نَفسي بذلِكَ ، غَيْرَةً
على صَوْنِها مِنِّي لِعزِّ مرامي

وبِتْنا ، كما شاءَ اقتراحي ، على المُنى
أرَى المُلكَ مُلكي والزَّمانَ غُلامي

Shushtari

Translation:

You seek Layla, but she reveals herself within you

You think she’s other, but she’s not other than you

And that’s a madness that is apparent to the cult of lovers

So be careful, for otherness is the essence of being cut off

Don’t you see how her beauty envelops you?

She disappears only when you reject part of yourself

“Come close to me,” you say to she who is your All

And when she loves you, she leads you to yourself

Meeting her is bliss beyond description

and none reach her, save those who see meaning without forms

I was so in love with her that I would have vanished in her love

had she not sworn that I only obey her
I concealed her from people with fantasy

After having revealed her, truly, inside my cloak.
I hid her from myself, with the robe of my worlds,
And from my envy, out of the severity of my jealousy
O Dazzling beauty! Should the light of your face

Touch the eyes of a blind man, he would see every atom
She is adorned with each and every charm and grace of beauty
And wherever she appears, she is desired by those who love.

Original:

أَتَطلُبُ لَيلى وَهيَ فيكَ تَجَلَّت وَتَحسَبُها غَيراً وَغَيرُكَ لَيسَتِ

فَذابلُهُ في مِلَّةِ الحُبِّ ظاهِرٌ فَكُن فَطِناً فَالغيرُ عَينُ القَطيعَةِ

أَلَم تَرَها أَلقَت عَلَيكَ جَمالَها وَلَو لَم تَقُم بِالذاتِ مِنكَ اِضمَحَلَّتِ

تَقولُ لَها اُدنُ وَهيَ كُلَّك ثُمَّ إِن حَبَتكَ بِوَصلٍ أَوهَمَتكَ تَدَلَّتِ

عَزيزٌ لِقاها لا يَنالُ وِصالَها سِوى مَن يَرى مَعنىً بِغَيرِ هَوِيَّةِ

كَلِفت بِها حَتّى فَنِيتُ بِحُبِّها فَلَو أَقسَمَت أَنّيَ إِيّاها لَبَرَّتِ

وَغالَطتُ فيها الناسَ بِالوَهمِ بَعدَما تَبَيَّنتها حَقّاً بِداخِلِ بُردَتي

وَغَطَّيتُها عَنّي بِثَوبِ عَوالِمي وَعَن حاسِدي فيها لِشِدَّةِ غيرَتي

بَديعَة حُسنٍ أَو بَدا نورُ وَجهِها إِلى أَكمَهٍ أَضحى يَرى كُلَّ ذَرَّةِ

تحلّت بأنواع الجمال بأسرها فهام بها أهل الهوى حيثُ حلّت

This Love is not a River…

Posted on August 13, 2018 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Two of my favorite Fado songs, by two of my favorite singers, Cristina Branco and Carminho:

Translation:

This love is not a river

It has the vastness of the sea

The green dance of the waves

Sobbing in my eyes.

I tried to forget the words

Unspoken between us

But hanging over the silence

On the shores of our voice

I tried to forget your eyes

That do not know how to read mine

But in them is born the daybreak

That dawns on the earth and the heavens

I tried to forget your name

Pluck it from my thoughts

But it returns at every instant

Entwined in the wind.

I tried to see my image

But it was yours that I saw

In my mirror, for I bear

Your flat eyes.

This love is not a river

It has abysses like the sea

And the black mantle of the waves

Shrouds me in blackness

This love is not a river

It has the vastness of the sea

Original:

Este amor não é um rio

Tem a vastidão do mar

A dança verde das ondas

Soluça no meu olhar

Tentei esquecer as palavras

Nunca ditas entre nós

Mas pairam sobre o silencio

Nas margens da nossa voz

Tentei esquecer os teus olhos

Que não sabem ler nos meus

Mas neles nasce a alvorada

Que amanhece a terra e os céus

Tentei esquecer o teu nome

Arrancá-lo ao pensamento

Mas regressa a todo o instante

Entrelaçado no vento

Tentei ver a minha imagem

Mas foi a tua que vi

No meu espelho, porque trago

Os olhos rasos de ti

Este amor não é um rio

Tem abismos como o mar

E o manto negro das ondas

Cobre-me de negro o olhar

Este amor não é um rio

Tem a vastidão do mar

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/fado-perdi%C3%A7%C3%A3o-perdition-fado.html

Translation:

I wrote your name on the wind

convinced that I was writing it

on the page of forgetfulness

that in the wind

it would get lost

On the page of forgetfulness

that in the wind it would get lost

And on seeing it go

covered in dust

I considered my heart free

of the bonds of your love

I considered my heart free

of the bonds of your love

Poor me!

I never even thought

that just like me

the wind would fall in love

with that name that is yours

The wind would fall in love

with that name that is yours

As the wind stirs up, so does my pain get stirred up

I want to forget you, believe me

But there is always more wind

I want to forget you

but there is always more wind

Rumi

Translation:

Love is the One who masters all things;
I am mastered totally by Love.
By my passion of love for Love
I have ground sweet as sugar.
O furious Wind, I am only a straw before you;
How could I know where I will be blown next?
Whoever claims to have made a pact with Destiny
Reveals himself a liar and a fool;
What is any of us but a straw in a storm?
How could anyone make a pact with a hurricane?
God is working everywhere his massive Resurrection;
How can we pretend to act on our own?
In the hand of Love I am like a cat in a sack;
Sometimes Love hoists me into the air,
Sometimes Love flings me into the air,
Love swings me round and round His head;
I have no peace, in this world or any other.
The lovers of God have fallen in a furious river;
They have surrendered themselves to Love’s commands.
Like mill wheels they turn, day and night, day and night,
Constantly turning and turning, and crying out.

Original:

If I could see you I would die

and if I died, then I’d see you

I can’t stop, even though I’ve tried

from staring, drowning, in your eyes

Without you all I see are lies

and so my beautiful, that’s why

approaching you, I’m terrified

and yet, still more scared am I

of losing sight of you, my life

In death, I see you with your eyes

awake, you peer out within mine

your love swallowed the whole world up

and burned down my soul and my mind

even my love burned up in yours

it ate up all space and all time

so there’s no inside nor outside

there’s just your side, nothing to find

nothing to say, free, pay no mind

hearing no ears, seeing no eyes

all knots and thoughts simply unwind

as your sword falls, gentler than kind

there’s no one left to realize

Just your dark beauty, shining bright

in each and every lover’s sight

in every tale, in every plight

in all that’s wrong and all that’s right

beneath the depths, above the heights

through all the days, over the nights

you hold my soul closer than tight

and unseen, you perceive the sights

Love’s river floods mine out of sight

Love’s flames burn bodies into light

Love’s kiss turns death back into life

Love conquers all by its sweet might

And so whence my despair or fright?

when all my pains and all delights

are but you, your love and love bites

that bear aloft my soul’s fair kite

and put to shame all that I write

Hafez—If you pass by my grave…

Posted on August 9, 2018 by sulaymanibnqiddees

Two of my favorite poems of Hafez; legend is that scholars decided to settle a debate over whether or not Hafez should receive a proper Muslim burial by performing divination with his poetry, the last couplet of the second poem emerged and Hafez was given a proper burial and his shrine has remained a site of pilgrimage ever since.

Translation:

It’s the fatwa of the Magian Pir and an ancient saying:

Wine is forbidden where the beloved is not the sommelier

I want to tear this cloak of hypocrisy

for unsuitable company is a painful torment for the spirit

Hoping for a sip of wine from the beloved’s lip

For years I have remained firm at the tavern door

Perhaps he has forgotten my old service

Morning breeze, remind him of our ancient pact

If you pass over my grave after a hundred years

My rotten bones will rise from the dust, dancing

The heart-ravisher took my heart with a hundred promises first

Apparently, his kind nature will not forget its pact

Tell the rosebud not to be sad about its knotted state

For it will find help from the breaths of the dawn wind and breeze

O heart, think about finding your remedy at another door

For the lover’s pain cannot be cured by the doctor’s medicines

Get the jewel of ma’rifat that you can take with you

The wealth of gold and silver belongs to others

This snare is hard, without the grace of God

Adam cannot prevail over the accursed Satan

Hafez, if you have no gold or silver, so what? Give thanks!

What better wealth than subtlety of speech and soundness of nature?

(translation modified from Reza Saberi’s Divan of Hafez, 426-7)

Original:

فتوی پیر مغان دارم و قولیست قدیم

که حرام است می آن جا که نه یار است ندیم

چاک خواهم زدن این دلق ریایی چه کنم

روح را صحبت ناجنس عذابیست الیم

تا مگر جرعه فشاند لب جانان بر من

سال‌ها شد که منم بر در میخانه مقیم

مگرش خدمت دیرین من از یاد برفت

ای نسیم سحری یاد دهش عهد قدیم

بعد صد سال اگر بر سر خاکم گذری

سر برآرد ز گلم رقص کنان عظم رمیم

دلبر از ما به صد امید ستد اول دل

ظاهرا عهد فرامش نکند خلق کریم

غنچه گو تنگ دل از کار فروبسته مباش

کز دم صبح مدد یابی و انفاس نسیم

فکر بهبود خود ای دل ز دری دیگر کن

درد عاشق نشود به به مداوای حکیم

گوهر معرفت آموز که با خود ببری

که نصیب دگران است نصاب زر و سیم

دام سخت است مگر یار شود لطف خدا

ور نه آدم نبرد صرفه ز شیطان رجیم

حافظ ار سیم و زرت نیست چه شد شاکر باش

چه به از دولت لطف سخن و طبع سلیم

Translation: