The Arrival of the Moon of the Fast (of Ramadân)
Ghazal 23441
24797 May there be blessings for the arrival of the moon of the
Fast!2 May your road be delightful, O fellow-traveler of the Fast!
I went up on the roof so that I could see the moon, since in my soul
I was (feeling the) heart's desire for the Fast.
I gazed (at it but my) cap fell from (my) head, (since) I was made
"drunk"3 by the King of the Fast.4
24800 (O) Muslims, I've been drunk (ever) since that day.5 How
wonderful (is) the good fortune and lofty rank of the Fast!
Besides this moon, there is another hidden Moon,6 concealed like
a Turk inside the tent of the Fast.
The one who takes the road to that Moon comes to this excellent
moon at the threshing floor7 of the Fast.
If he makes his face as pale as satin,8 he will wear the gilded robe
of honor of the Fast.
Prayers are answered in this month, (for) the skies are pierced by
the sighs of the Fast.9
24805 He will gain the Egyptian kingdom of Love, like Joseph--
the one who practices patience in the "well"10 of the Fast.
24806 Decrease (the amount of) your pre-dawn meal.11 O speaker,12
be silent,13 (so that) by means of the Fast itself, they will become
knowledgeable of (the blessings of) the Fast.
--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, 10/26/03
© Ibrahim Gamard (translation, footnotes, & transliteration)
Notes on the text, with line number:
1Ghazal 2344: Compare to: the translation (from the Turkish
translation of Golpinarli) by Nevit Ergin, "Mevlana Jelaleddin
Rumi: Dîvân-i Kebîr," Volume 18, p. 164-65, 2002.
2(24797) for the arrival of the moon of the Fast: literally, "the moon
of the Fast has arrived." The word for "the Fast" [rôza] here is
Persian, literally "daily " (abstinence from food and drink). During
the lunar month of Ramad’n, Muslims abstain from eating or
drinking during the daylight hours. It is considered a blessing to
sight the first apearance of the thin crescent of the new moon, an
occasion which may involve traditional prayers of the Propohet
Muhammad said by him at the start of Ramadân.
3(24799) "drunk" [mast]: literally, "he made my head drunk." This
means a state of spiritual bliss resulting from the blessing [barakat]
of being in the presence of the spiritual master.
4(24799) the King of the Fast: refers to Mawlânâ's spiritual master,
Shams-é Tabrîzî, who had himself engaged in rigorous fasts in the
past.
5(24800) since that day: means the day he saw the new moon when
standing on the roof.
6(24801) another hidden Moon: refers to Shams-é Tabrîzî, whose
spiritual beauty is compared to the beauty of the luminous full
moon.
7(24802) threshing floor: a harvest metaphor, which here gives the
image of exertion during the day and festivities in the evening
(when threshed grain is cooked)--similar to the daily fast.
8(24803) face as pale as satin: an image of the appearance of the
face after much fasting.
9>(24804) the skies are pierced by the sighs of the Fast: literally, "the
sighs of the Fast pierce the skies." Refers to the sincere sighs of the
people fasting resulting from frequent prayers to God.
10(24805) practices patience in the "well": refers to the story of the
Prophet Joseph, who was thrown into the bottom of a well by his
brothers (Qur'an 12: 10, 15). Joseph was eventually rescued by
some travellers who sold him as a slave in Egypt.
11(24806) pre-dawn meal [saHûrê]: Muslims are advised to eat no
more than a small amount prior to the earliest signs of dawn on
each day of Ramadân (but this advice is often ignored by the less
pious).
12(24806): (O) speaker [nâTiq]: this variant was chosen instead of
Forûzânfar's text [nuTq-o].
13(24806): be silent [khamosh kon]: Mawlânâ frequently ends his
ghazals with the words "silent," "silence," or "silent one"
[khâmosh, khamôsh, khamosh]. In Forûzânfar's edition he added
a final line which comes after this line which includes the name of
Shams-é Tabrîz, but which only occurs in one of his least early
manuscripts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24797 mubârak bâd, âmad mâh-é rôza
rah-at khwosh bâd, ay ham-râh-é rôza
shod-am bar bâm tâ mah-râ be-bîn-am
ke bûd-am man ba-jân del-khwâh-é rôza
naZar kar-dam, kolâh az sar be-y-oftâd
sar-am-râ mast kard ân shâh-é rôza
24800 musalmân-ân! sar-am mast-ast az-ân rôz
zehê iqbâl-o bakht-o jâh-é rôza
ba-joz în mâh mâhê hast penhân
nehân chûn tork dar khargâh-é rôza
ba-d-ân mah rah bar-ad ân-kas ke ây-ad
dar-în mah-khwosh ba-kharman-gâh-é rôza
rokh-é chûn aTlas-ash gar zard gard-ad
be-pôsh-ad khil`at az dîbâh-é rôza
du`â-hâ andar-în mah mustajâb-ast
falak-hâ-râ be-darr-ad âh-é rôza
24805 chô yûsuf mulk-é miSr-é `ishq gîr-ad
kasê k-ô Sabr kard dar châh-é rôza
24806 saHûrê kam zan ay nâTiq: khamosh kon
ze-rôza khwad shaw-and âgâh-é rôza
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Meter: oXXX OXXX oXX
(Hazaj maHdhûf)
