Jan 26 2024
Sa’di – In Love
In Love
by Sa’di
English version by Mahmood Jamal
In Love there are no days or nights,
For lovers it is all the same.
The musicians have gone, yet the Sufis listen;
In Love there is a beginning but no end.
Each has a name for his Beloved,
But for me my Beloved is nameless.
Sa’di, if you destroy an idol,
Then destroy the idol of the self.
— from Islamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi, Translated by Mahmood Jamal
/ Image by Greg Rakozy /
The Poetry Chaikhana is back. So too am I, mostly. The winter holidays have been celebrated and survived. The world continues to shift about and demand our hearts.
Each has a name for his Beloved,
But for me my Beloved is nameless.
Here I stand beneath the full moon, quiet, not entirely sure who it is awash in that light.
Sa’di, if you destroy an idol,
Then destroy the idol of the self.
Sending love!
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Sa’di
Iran/Persia (1207? – 1291) Timeline |
Sheikh Muslihu’d-Din, known as Sa’di, was descended from Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed. Sa’di’s father apparently died when he was a boy.
Although Sa’di was born and died in Shiraz, Persia (Iran), during his life he traveled extensively. He is said to have traveled for thirty years throughout the Islamic world. Iran has filled the centuries with some of the world’s finest poets, but Iranians consider Sa’di to be one of the greatest.
Historians often divide his life into three parts. His first twenty-five years were spent studying in various countries, going to university at Baghdad. During the next thirty years he traveled widely, east to India and as far west as Syria. He made his pilgrimage to Mecca fourteen times. Finally, Sa;di returned to Shiraz where he devoted himself to writing and to teaching.
Sa’di was a disciple of the Sufi master Sheikh Shahabud-Din Sahrawardi.
Sa’di’s two best known works are the Bustan (the Garden), composed entirely in verse, and the Gulistan (the Rose Garden), in both prose and verse. He was particularly known for the wry wit he injected into his poems.
Sa’di is probably the first Persian poet to have been translated into European languages. A German version of the Gulistan appeared in 1654.
Sa’di’s tomb can be seen in the town of Shiraz. Lines from Saadi’s poems are still commonly used in conversations by Iranians today.
I enjoyed reading this, we should more often be reminded of the great poets of the past, it is so interesting to hear their views on life and see the way they formed their poetry. Although it is of course not the original language which is always best to understand.
Thank You Ivan – so good to have you back! Somehow I thought we
might again have a poem on this Friday. . .
As always, I loved the poem you selected, especially the last line.
And of course your commentary and especially the Thought for the
Day. Our World is on Fire and finding the balance every day is so
important and healing.
Sending Love, Carol
Oh what a Wonderous Pondering.
The Sufi Wisdom so removed from the Manifestied Sense Reality, but with Opening of My Heart ~ Speaks the Native Language of My Soul.
With Intuition and an Open Heart, the Words evoke an Inner Fire of Desire to Love