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The (Mystic) Drunkards Are Giving (Their) Greetings of Peace to You

Ghazal 534¹

5685 Go (and) tell that lute player,² "The (mystic) drunkards³ are
giving (their) greetings of peace⁴ to you." And tell the water bird,⁵
"The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their) greetings of peace to
you."

And tell that Prince of the cupbearers,⁶ "The (mystic) drunkards
are giving (their) greetings of peace to you." And tell that [Giver
of] Everlasting Life,⁷ "The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their)
greetings of peace to you."

And tell that Prince of loud uproar,⁸ "The (mystic) drunkards are
giving (their) greetings of peace to you." And tell that (Instigator
of) agitation and passionate love, "The (mystic) drunkards are
giving (their) greetings of peace to you."

O you regarding whom the (full) moon is ashamed because of (the
beauty of) your face, "The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their)
greetings of peace to you." And, O peace and quiet of the heart,⁹
"The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their) greetings of peace to
you."

O Soul of the soul, O Soul of the soul, "The (mystic) drunkards are
giving (their) greetings of peace to you." O you (who are) like this
and a hundred (who are) like that, "The (mystic) drunkards are
giving (their) greetings of peace to you."

5690 There isn't anyone here possessed of (sober awareness of)
himself.¹⁰ "The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their) greetings of
peace to you." There isn't (anyone) more here (other than) one
(who is completely) drunk. "The (mystic) drunkards are giving
(their) greetings of peace to you."

O Desire of desires, "The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their)
greetings of peace to you." Quickly remove¹¹ the veil (from your
face)! "The (mystic) drunkards are giving (their) greetings of peace
to you."

--From The Dîwân-é Kabîr (also known as "Kulliyat-é Shams" and
"Dîwân-é Shams-é Tabrîz") of Jalaluddin Rumi.
Translated from the Persian by Ibrahim Gamard, 9/27/03
© Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, & transliteration)

Notes on the text, with line number:

¹Ghazal 534: Compare to: the translation (from the Turkish
translation of Golpinarli) by Nevit Ergin, "Dîvân-i Kebîr," Volume
1, p. 102.

²lute player [rabâbî]: a musician invited to play music for an
ecstatic concert of mystical poetry and dance-like movements
[samâ`].

³the (mystic) drunkards [mast-ân]: means the dervishes, or sufis,
who are "drunk" from the effects of the spiritual blessing [barakat]
of the spiritual master. of the spiritual master. This relates to "wine" symbolism in Persian
sufi poetry and should not be interpreted as alcoholic wine
(alcholic beverages are forbidden in Islam.

⁴greetings of peace [salâm]: refers to the Islamic greeting of peace,
in Arabic, "May the peace of God be upon you" [as-salâmu
`alay-kum].

⁵the water bird: refers to the dervish, or sufi, who is able to both
soar to the spiritual heights as well as to plunge to the depths of
spiritual meaning. Rumi often uses bird imagery to symbolize the
soul.

⁶Prince of the cupbearers: refers to the chief of the dispensers of
"wine" [sâqiy-ân]. This is an epithet of the spiritual beloved,
Shams-é Tabrîzî.

⁷[Giver of) Everlasting Life [`umr-é bâqî]: an epithet of the
spiritual master, Shams-é Tabrîzî, whose blessing is like the Water
of Everlasting Life.

⁸Prince of loud uproar: refers to Shams (as also the second half of
the line, "that [Instigator of] agitation and passionate love"), whose
spiritual presence--especially during a mystical concert [samâ`]--
causes the mystic disciple's ordinary intellect to be turned upside
down and bewildered, which can lead to loud drunken-like
behavior.

⁹peace and quiet of the heart: the implication here is that any
restful states of the hearts of the dervish disciples will be disrupted
by the coming of turbulent mystical drunkenness.

¹⁰possessed of (sober awareness of) himself [bâ-khwêsh]: means
the ordinary mental state of rational, prudent, cautious, sober
consciousness. "With self" [bâ-khwêsh] is the opposite of "without
self" [bê-khwêsh], which also means "ecstatic."

¹¹quickly remove [bar-dâr zû]: a word play with "desire" [ârzû].

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5685 raw ân rabâbî-râ be-gû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
w-ân morgh-é âbî-râ be-gû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

w-ân mîr-é sâqî-râ be-gû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
w-ân `umr-é bâqî-râ be-gû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

w-ân mîr-é ghawghâ-râ be-gû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
w-ân shôr-o sawdâ-râ be-gû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

ay mah ze-rokhsâr-at khajil: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
w-ay râHat-o ârâm-é del: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

ay jân-é jân, ay jân-é jân: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
ay tô chon-în-o Sad chon-ân: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

5690 în-jâ yakê bâ-khwêsh nêst: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
yak mast în-jâ bêsh nêst: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

ay ârzûy-é ârzû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"
ân parda-râ bar-dâr zû: "mast-ân salâm-at mê-kon-and"

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Meter: XXoX XXoX XXoX XXoX

Rajaz sâlim (muthamman)