Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

| View All Poems by Binavi Badakhshani | Next Poem >>
Clear Wine by Binavi Badakhshani (13th Century) Timeline English version by David and Sabrineh Fideler Original Language Persian/Farsi Muslim / Sufi 13th Century A mystic is one who passes away -- He abides in the essence of that which is Real. Such a person is pure, clear wine without dregs. Now whole, he displays the Most Beautiful Names.     -- from Love's Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition, Translated by David Fideler / Translated by Sabrineh Fideler Amazon.com	Themes   Wine         Recommended Books The Drunken Universe: An Anthology of Persian Sufi Poetry, Translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson / Translated by Nasrollah Pourjavady Love's Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition, Translated by David Fideler / Translated by Sabrineh Fideler
| More Poems by Binavi Badakhshani | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

A couple of brief observations:

"Clear wine without dregs" is a variation on the classic image of the awareness being like silted streamwater: When the flow is natural and untroubled, the silt settles to the bottom and the water is clear, allowing the light to pass through unhindered. But when the water is turbulent, silt rises and clarity is lost.

What we commonly think of as the self or the ego is really nothing more than that silt, the murky dregs. The ego doesn't really have any tangibility in itself; it is simply a clouding of the awareness that we have grown used to. A mystic is one who has learned to let the flow of heart and mind grow smooth, natural, still. As the dregs settle, the mystic's ego-self "passes away," and the wine grows clear.

The "Most Beautiful Names" are the many names of God. In other words, such a one, one who is "now whole," "displays" or embodies the qualities of the Divine.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.