Divan-e Shams› Ghazal 1792 ← previous · next →
Divan-e Shams · G1792 · 15 beyts
غزل شمارهٔ ۱۷۹۲
The poem is a cascade of ecstatic questions and declarations trying to name an overwhelming spiritual arrival. The speaker identifies this presence with prophets, divine light, and the Water of Life, declaring an end to all spiritual lack and fear. This arrival demands total surrender, a joyful sacrifice of the self, like a polo ball yielding to the master's mallet.
This ghazal captures the moment of ecstatic union with the Divine Beloved, figured as a royal, sun-like presence. The poem opens with a series of breathless, rhetorical questions, attempting to identify the magnificent arrival (beyt 1-4). Is it a prophet like Joseph, Khidr, or Elias? Is it a divine banquet, a celestial light, the very Water of Life? This questioning gives way to triumphant declaration in the poem's middle section (beyt 5-8): the spiritual famine is over, sorrow is banished, and the time for repentance and shame has been replaced by a celebration of joyful sacrifice, like Isaac yielding to the knife on the Eid al-Adha. The central metaphor shifts to a polo match where the Beloved is the master player, the Sultan of the field, and the lover's only task is to become a selfless, will-less ball, struck by the Sultan's mallet into a state of divine motion and unity (beyt 12-14). The ghazal concludes with an command to shatter the vessel of the self, as the water of life has returned to the stream, and to fall silent in prostration before the majesty of this royal feast (beyt 15).
Open any couplet for its own page — rendering, commentary, hard words.
- G1792:1 این کیست این این کیست این این یوسف ثانی است اینخضر است و الیاس این مگر یا آب حیوانی است این Who is this, who is this, who is this? This is a second Joseph.Is this Khidr and Elias, or is this the Water of Life?The speaker is overwhelmed by a beautiful presence, comparing it to the prophet Joseph for his beauty, and to the immortal figures of Khidr and Elias, or the mythical fountain of youth.
- G1792:2 این باغ روحانی است این یا بزم یزدانی است اینسرمه سپاهانی است این یا نور سبحانی است این Is this a spiritual garden, or is this a divine banquet?Is this kohl from Isfahan, or is this the Glorious One's light?The speaker continues to question the nature of this presence, wondering if it is a place of spiritual nourishment, a feast hosted by God, a beautifying substance, or God's own pure light.
- G1792:3 آن جان جان افزاست این یا جنت المأواست اینساقی خوب ماست این یا باده جانی است این Is this the soul that enhances the soul, or is this the Garden of Refuge?Is this our beautiful cupbearer, or is this the wine of the soul?The questions escalate, asking if this presence is the source of spiritual life itself, paradise, the divine beloved who serves wine, or the intoxicating spiritual wine itself.
- G1792:4 تنگ شکر را ماند این سودای سر را ماند اینآن سیمبر را ماند این شادی و آسانی است این This resembles a cone of sugar, this resembles a passion in the head.This resembles that silver-bodied one, this is joy and ease.The speaker likens the beloved's effect to sweetness, obsession, and physical beauty, concluding that this experience is purely one of happiness and comfort.
- G1792:5 امروز مستیم ای پدر توبه شکستیم ای پدراز قحط رستیم ای پدر امسال ارزانی است این Today we are drunk, O father; we have broken our repentance, O father.We have escaped the famine, O father; this is a year of plenty.Addressing a spiritual guide, the speaker declares a state of intoxication and abandonment of past vows of sobriety, celebrating the end of spiritual drought and the beginning of abundance.
- G1792:6 ای مطرب داووددم آتش بزن در رخت غمبردار بانگ زیر و بم کاین وقت سرخوانی است این O musician with the breath of David, set fire to the robes of grief!Lift up the song, high and low, for this is a time for feasting.The speaker commands the musician, whose voice is as beautiful as the prophet David's, to destroy all sorrow with music, because this is a moment for joyous celebration.
- G1792:7 مست و پریشان توام موقوف فرمان تواماسحاق قربان توام این عید قربانی است این I am drunk and distraught for you, I am dependent on your command.I am Isaac, your sacrifice; this is the Eid of Sacrifice.Declaring total submission to the beloved, the speaker identifies as Isaac, ready to be sacrificed, framing this moment of surrender as a sacred festival.
- G1792:8 رستیم از خوف و رجا عشق از کجا شرم از کجاای خاک بر شرم و حیا هنگام پیشانی است این We are saved from hope and fear. Where is love from? Where is shame from?O, dust upon shame and modesty, this is the moment for the forehead!In this state of union, conventional emotions like hope, fear, and shame have become irrelevant. It is time to cast them aside and press the forehead to the ground in prostration.
- G1792:9 گل‌های سرخ و زرد بین آشوب و بردابرد بیندر قعر دریا گرد بین موسی عمرانی است این See the red and yellow flowers, see the chaos and the plunder.See the dust cloud in the sea's depth, this is Moses, son of Amran.The world is in a beautiful, chaotic uproar, like a garden in full bloom. This divine power is like that of Moses, who parted the Red Sea, stirring up everything from its depths.
- G1792:10 هر جسم را جان می کند جان را خدادان می کندداور سلیمان می کند یا حکم دیوانی است این It makes every body a soul, it makes the soul a knower of God.It makes the judge a Solomon, or is this a decree from the court?This divine presence transforms the physical into the spiritual and elevates the soul to gnosis. It grants the wisdom of Solomon to an ordinary judge, acting with the force of an absolute royal command.
- G1792:11 ای عشق قلماشیت گو از عیش و خوش باشیت گوکس می نداند حرف تو گویی که سریانی است این O Love, speak of your roguishness, speak of your pleasure and your good cheer.No one understands your speech; you would think this is Syriac.Addressing Love directly, the speaker asks it to tell of its playful, joyous nature. Yet, Love's language is so esoteric and foreign that it is incomprehensible to ordinary people, like the ancient Syriac language.
- G1792:12 خورشید رخشان می رسد مست و خرامان می رسدبا گوی و چوگان می رسد سلطان میدانی است این The radiant sun arrives, drunk and strolling arrives.With the ball and the mallet it arrives, this is the Sultan of the field.The Beloved appears, as brilliant as the sun, moving with the confident grace of one who is intoxicated with power. He comes equipped for polo, signifying his absolute mastery over the game of existence.
- G1792:13 هر جا یکی گویی بود در حکم چوگان می دودچون گوی شو بی‌دست و پا هنگام وحدانی است این Wherever a ball may be, it runs under the mallet's command.Become a ball, without hand or foot, for this is the moment of Oneness.Just as a polo ball has no will of its own and moves only as the mallet directs, the seeker must surrender their own agency. This is the time to become completely passive in the Beloved's hands to experience unity.
- G1792:14 گویی شوی بی‌دست و پا چوگان او پایت شوددر پیش سلطان می دوی کاین سیر ربانی است این When you become a ball, without hand or foot, His mallet becomes your feet.You run before the Sultan, for this is a lordly journey.By surrendering personal will, the seeker does not become inert but is instead moved by the divine will itself. This passive state enables a new kind of motion, a spiritual journey directed entirely by God.
- G1792:15 آن آب بازآمد به جو بر سنگ زن اکنون سبوسجده کن و چیزی مگو کاین بزم سلطانی است این That water has returned to the stream; now, strike the jug against the stone.Prostrate yourself and say nothing, for this is the Sultan's banquet.The individual soul (the water in the jug) has rejoined its divine source (the stream), so the container of the self must be shattered. In the presence of this royal feast, the only proper response is silent, worshipful surrender.
ganjoor: sh1792 · public domain