One of my favorite ghazals of Rumi, its inherent musicality embodies the Ṭarab the poet declares himself to be in the opening line. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1krbWlfxx-K9Icigm9-YSQCXoMoiP8LsQ Original/Translation: من طربم طرب منم زهره زند نوای منI am delight, delight is me; Venus sings my melody. عشق میان عاشقان شیوه کند برای منLove between lovers makes a way for…
“Forever do the Spirits yearn for you” / “Forever in your remembrance do my moments pass”: al-Suhrawardi and al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf
Although better known as the founder of the Illuminationist Philosophical tradition, Shihāb al-dīn al-Suhrawardī was also a gifted Arabic poet, and this poem, in particular has been beloved by Sufis and lovers throughout the ages. al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf’s poem of the same meter seems to be modeled on it in part. But al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf’s poem stands…
Baha al-Dīn Zuhayr: “I have, in passion, a secret”
One of the most famous and celebrated poets and prose stylists (and calligraphers) of the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, Bahā’ al-dīn Zuhayr (d. 656/1258) was known for his impossibly easy (sahl mumtani’) and elegant style that combined directness, sincerity, and brevity with wit and profound feelings-especially in love poetry, poetry about friendship, and praise poetry….
al-Ḥarrāq, “The best of my states is my trust in your grace”
A lovely madīḥ nabawī poem by the “little Ibn al-Fāriḍ,” the Shādhilī-Darqawī shaykh and poet, Muḥammad al-Ḥarrāq (1186/1772-1261/1845). The closing lines are some of my favorite verses of metaphysical madīḥ, beautifully recited here: Translation: The best of my states is in my reliance on your grace,And begging at your door is my placeBy God, how…
al-Ḥarrāq, “Are you seeking Layla?”
Translation: Are You Seeking Layla? Are you seeking Layla while she is manifest in you? And you suppose she is someone else, but she’s not other than you. In the sect of love, this dullness is apparent, So be sharp, for [seeing her as] other is the source of estrangement. Do you not see that…
I hide love, while my tears reveal it…
This short poem by Ibn al-Farid is exquisite in sound and meaning, and a favorite amongst Sufi singers: Translation: I hide love, while my tears reveal it and I kill it, but my passion revives itMy torturer is sweet-natured and delicate and all beauties are gathered in himIt is as if he is, in beauty,…
Loving you has its nearness and distance
Another beautiful poem by al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf, ‘Afīf al-dīn al-Tilimsānī’s son, chock-full of badī’, smooth and musical. I have both nearness and distance in loving you while yours is a beauty rare and wonderful You for whose beauty I seek refuge in your majesty wary of the jealous eyes afflicting you If you are not my…
Anything but your beauty is forbidden to my gaze / The tale of my love for you is ancient
Another beautiful pair of Arabic poems; the first by the Yemeni Sufi poet ‘abd al-Hādī al-Sūdī (d. 1526) has an opening similar to the two poems in the previous post (by al-Nabulusi and al-Tilimsani), and show signs of being modeled on al-Tilimsani’s; the latter poem is by al-Tilimsani’s son, al-Shābb al-Ẓarīf (“The Cool Kid”) and…
My eyes only see your beauty
This beautiful poem by the Damascene Sufi scholar ‘abd al-Ghani al-Nābulusi (d. 1143/1731), is a favorite among singers. But as he writes in his dīwān, it is based on two verses from an earlier poem, which his friends showed him and asked him to expand. These verses are found in some versions of 1001 Nights,…
Rumi: Fire rains down
Translation: If the soul of a lover spoke, fire would rain down on this world smashing this baseless world like atoms The Sky will burst, time and space torn to shreds A passion fills the world, Joy triumphs over death. The Sun falls short, as the inner light glows …