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Love is not easy, a withering flame it is
A trial for both the strong and tame it is
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Ishq aasan na buad soz e mudam ast i ja
(love easy isn’t burning continuous it is)
Imtihaan e dil e har puktha o khaam ast i ja
(a test of hearts strong and callow it is)
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I asked, ‘is aught more radiant than when the moon shines?’
‘Yes’, he replied, ‘this countenance of mine’
‘And is aught sweeter than sugar in the land?’
He declared, ‘my words make sugar seem bland’
‘What is death for a lover?’, asked I
‘Separation from the beloved’, was the reply
‘What of the pains of life, can there a cure be?’
‘For you’, he spoke, ‘it is the sight of me’
‘And the right path for a lover?’, I enquired
He answered, ‘Of lovers only faithfulness is required’
‘Do not be so cruel and unfair’, I pled
‘But that is my work and affair’, he said
I said, ‘art thou of the houri or pari?’
‘I am the lord of them all’, said he
‘Thine love hath left Khusrau broken’, I prayed
‘To be my devotee, this price must be paid’
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Guftam ke Roshan az Qamar
(said that [what is] brighter then the moon)
Gufta ke Rukhsar-e-man ast
(said that face/countenance of mine is)
Guftam ke shiirin az shaker
(said that [what is] sweeter than sugar)
Gufta ke guftaar-e-man ast
(said that conversation/words of mine is)
Guftam ke marg-e-aashiqaan
(said that [what is] the end/destination of lovers)
Gufta ke dard-e-Hijr-e-Man
(said that pain of separation from me)
Guftam Ilaaj-e-zindagi
(said [what is] the cure of life)
Gufta ke deedar-e-man ast
(said that seeing/perceiving me is)
Guftam tareeq-e-Aashiqaan
(said [what is] way/method of lovers)
Gufta vafaadaarii buwad
(said that faithfulness/loyalty forever)
Guftam makun jaur O Jafaa
(said don’t be cruel and unfair)
Gufta ke ein Kaar-e-man ast
(said that it work/occupation of mine is)
Guftam ke Huuri yaa Parri
(said are you a houri or a pari)
Gufta ke man shah-e-butaan
(said i am trekking of idols)
Guftam ke Khusrao-e- Naatavaan
(said that khusrou is paralysed/handicapped)
Guftaaa paristaar-e-Man ast
(said [because] worshipper of mine is)
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These beautiful verses describe the helplessness and anguish of a lover towards the beloved. The role of lover as the tormented and the beloved as tormentor in the dialectic of love is a familiar theme in Sufi poetry. Hazrat Amir Khusrau also follows sufi poetic tradition and presents the feminine as lover and the masculine as beloved.
On another level, this is a exclamation of his devotion to his spiritual master, Hazrat Nizamuddin of Delhi, and the love spoken of is a spiritual and sacred kind.
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Oh what a waste! what a waste! what a waste!
To be sober amongst the drunk and the dazed
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ey ziyan u ey ziyan u ey ziyan u ey ziyan
(a loss/waste a loss/waste a loss/waste a loss/waste)
hushyari dar miyan e bi khudan u bi hushan
(clear-minded [to be] between intoxicated and unconscious)
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The beauty of Rumi’s poetry is that it generally requires no explanations when it traverses languages. The central idea is so lucid that everyone grasps it without any usherance.
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Himself the vessel and the maker
Himself the clay from which it’s made
Himself is he that drinks from it
That breaks and spills it after he has paid
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khud kooza o, khud kooza garo, khud gil e kooza
(himself the vessel, himself maker-of-it, himself material-of-it)
khud rind o subu kush.
(himself the one who drinks)
khud bar sar e aan kooza kharidaar bar amad
(himself it is as vessel’s buyer manifests)
ba shikast ravan shud
(and breaks and lets flow/spill)
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Maulana Rumi. What more need be said?
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I belong not to this world of dust
A bird of the garden of heaven am I
This body is a cage in which I’m trussed
For a day or three afore I fly
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morghe baghe malakootam niam az aalame khak
(bird-of garden-of heaven, not from this world-of dust/ashes)
do se rozi ghafasi sakhte and az badanam
(two three days cage made from my body)
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Beshno.... 