persian-literature

"O happy, happy Wisa, who dost lie At Rāmin's feet, and with bewitched eye Gazest on him, as partridge doomed to die Its gaze upon the hawk doth concentrate! O happy, happy Wisa, who dost hold Clasped in thy hand the jewelled cup of gold, Filled to the brim with nectar rare and old, Which like thy beauty doth intoxicate! O happy Wisa, whose red lips confess With smiles their love, ere Rāmin's lips they press, Whom with desire's fulfilment Heaven doth bless, And Mubad's fruitless passion doth frustrate!"

"I do repent of wine and talk of wine, Of idols fair with charms like silver fine: A lip-repentance and a lustful heart— O God, forgive this penitence of mine!"

"In the church I said to a Christian charmer of hearts, 'O thou in whose net the heart is captive! O thou to the warp of whose girdle each hair-tip of mine is separately attached! How long wilt thou continue not to find the way to the Divine Unity? How long wilt thou impose on the One the shame of the Trinity? How can it be right to name the One True God "Father", "Son", and "Holy Ghost"? She parted her sweet lips and said to me, while with sweet laughter she poured sugar from her lips: 'If thou art aware of the Secret of the Divine Unity, do not cast on us the stigma of infidelity! In three mirrors the Eternal Beauty cast a ray from His effulgent countenance. Silk does not become three things if thou callest it Parniyan, Harir, and Parand. While we were thus speaking, this chant rose up beside us from the church bell: 'He is One and there is naught save He: There is no God save Him alone!'"

"Everybody wants to take something to eternity from this world, but there is nothing in this that can find a passage there except egolessness."

"If in any community a person gains enlightenment and nearness of God, God in His grace for his sake forgives the whole community its transgressions."

"When the Lord leads one to the Path, he dwells in the Plane of Unity with Him (Tawḥīd) and none expect God knows about his state."

"There are some devotees of the Lord who are His beloveds. When they call Him by name, all the birds of air and beasts of the forest stand in silence whilst the angels in heaven shudder and the earth and the heaven and illuminated. Such is the majesty of the utterance of the Name by them that the earth stans quaking."

"A Sufi does not need the light of the sun or the moon, for the Effulgence of the Lord is with him and it is brighter than that of all satellites."

"None could tread one step successfully in the Path without the help of the Lord. One could never succeed by one's personal effort and perseverance."

"Continue spiritual practices till the spiritual practices themselves abandon you."

"O seeker, never think ya hath gained illumination, until for seventy years successively you experience that whilst standing in prayers in Khurasan, you are offering obeisances and bowing in Makkah, and all the treasures of heaven and earth lie bare before your eyes and in spite of all that remain humble and ever in fear lest the Lord many not accept your worship."

"When people seek the Lord with earnestness and are lost to themselves, God is met."

"Some of the friends of the Lord seated in the world can read the scroll of destiny."

"Dwell in the company of the Lord and forsake the company of the world because one should associate oneself with a friend and there is no friend superior to the Lord."

"Whom the Lord guides, the Path is shortened for him."

"The greatest activity is the remembrance and recollection of the Lord and after that come, in order of preference, purity of life, charity and austerity."

"God's love claims him whose heart is reduced to ashes for Him."

"God bestows His anguish (Pain) on the enlightened one."

"He who sacrifices his honor for the sake of the Lord, the Lord thereafter cloaks him with the garment of His honor."

"That Muslim is not praiseworthy who worships and keeps fasts, but he is to be praised in whose scroll of destiny no sin is recorded during the course of a lifetime. And when that stage is reached he fears God and maintains humility."

"Whosoever by God's grace sees Him sees not creatures. He who attains to the vision of the Lord is lost to himself."

"It is veils that wrap past, present and future time from your view. When the veils are withdrawn one can see all."

"[Sayyid Ali Hamdani built his khanqah on the site of] ‘a small temple which was demolished... the credit of wiping out the vestiges of infidelity and heresy from the mirror of the conscience of the dwellers of these lands [goes to Sayyid Muhammad]."

"Setting out this ‘covenant’, S.A.A. Rizvi writes: In emphasizing such a covenant, Saiyid ‘Ali was acting as an ‘alim and not as a sufi. Sultan Qutub’d-Din adopted Persian dress and divorced one of his wives whom he had illegally married earlier. Occasionally he attended congregational prayers led by the Saiyid on a platform built at the site of the Kali Mandir, which he himself had helped to destroy. The demolition of the temple contravened the covenant; probably the Brahmans had not allowed Saiyid ‘Ali’s followers to stay in the temple and the infringement was used as a pretext and later a precedent set by the Saiyid in Kashmir. Truly, an alim! Hamadani (AD 1314-85) was a famous Sufi and is regarded as their patron saint by Muslims in Kashmir. His renowned dargah in Srinagar stands on the site of a Kali temple which he helped destroy."

"To take one instance, Saiyid Ali Hamadani urged that the following ‘covenant’ be imposed on the Hindus: • They (the Hindus) will not build new idol temples. • They will not rebuild any existing temple which may have fallen into disrepair. • Muslim travellers will not be prevented from staying in temples. • Zimmis will courteously receive a Muslim wishing to attend their meetings. • They will not ride horses with saddle and bridle. • They will not possess swords, bows or arrows. • They will not openly practise their traditional customs amongst Muslims. • They will not mourn their dead loudly....."

"Mir Sayyid ‘Ali Hamadani (1314-1385) began to get Hindu temples demolished and the Hindus converted by reckless use of force throughout his sojourn in Kashmir..."

"شغل بہتر ہے عشق بازی کا کیا حقیقی و کیا مجازی کا"

"Soul-refreshing are your lips, Breath of Christ are your lips. The god of beauty, with nectar divine Has charged the goblet of your lips. Wisdom, philosophy, deep truths, Inform the utterance of your lips. With ruby-pen the lovers of your lines, Inscribe the message of your lips. The grass, the foliage, and the bloom, Forever crave to kiss your lips. My palate and tongue get honey-drenched, Whensoever I mention your lips. What an treat for Walis tongue, Morn and eve to praise your lips!"

"خُوگر نہیں کچھ یوں ہی ہم ریختہ گوئی کے معشوق جو اپنا تھا باشندۂ دکن تھا"

"Not for nothing have I fallen for "Rekhta" verse, The darling of my heart was Deccan domicile."

"Beauty, which the mirror of creation was beautifying, with a hundred thousand suns each atom caressing, despite its great glory was behind the unseen's veil... it did not know itself until humanity was blossoming."

"In this sea where rise up storms of 'me' and 'we', some of the population find escaping not so easy. No one's should be burdened by carrying another, every wave is a bridge, to be crossing over...'me'."

"It's in your nature to accept advice readily so don't fail in reaping benefit through me, This collection of our thought is open to all: so, read it and satisfy yourself completely."

"Kneeling to the idols, Momin, you have spent your life, How futile to turn a Muslim when your end arrives!"

"No one in the world has (ever) laughed, the least bit without weeping at the same time."

"تم میرے پاس ہوتے ہو گویا جب کوئی دوسرا نہیں ہوتا"

"My Love stood by me at the dawn of day, And said, 'To grief you make my heart a prey, What I am casting looks of love at you, Have you no shame to turn your eyes away? All my life long I tread love's path of pain, It peradventure 'union' I may gain Better to catch one moment's glimpse of Thee Than earthly beauties' love through lite retain."

"God has not made with two hearts within him. The incomparable Majesty who has conferred the boon of existence upon thee has placed within thee but one heart, to the end that with single heart thou mayest love Him alone, and mayest turn thy back on all besides and devote thyself to Him alone, and refrain from dividing thy heart into a hundred portions, each portion devoted to a different object."

"Thou, for whose love I've sacrifice existence, Art, yet art not, the sum of earth's existence, Earth lacks true Being, yet depends thereon— Thou art true Being, Thou art pure existence The Loved One is quite colourless, O heart, Be not engrossed with colours, then, O heart All colours come from what is colourless, And 'who can dye so well as God,' O heart?"

"My friends, we have seen enough of this play. We are going home, you can stay."

"How a pleasant word of an old lover that said When there is lovem there is no comfort."

"I was trapped in love And this trap is enough for me."

"جگ میں کوئی نہ ٹک ہنسا ہوگا کہ نہ ہنسنے میں رو دِیا ہوگا"

"The pledge that you and I have made, you may or mayn't recall, The pledge, that is, to love till death, you may or mayn't recall. The joys once bestowed on me, those kindness galore, I remember every bit, you may or mayn't recall. Those new complaints, grumblings new, those delicious tales, That getting cross without a cause, you may or mayn't recall.If chanced we to get together, to reaffirm our faith, How we complained of our unkind kin, you may or mayn't recall. If there was aught that annoyed your heart, I always let it go unsaid, you may or mayn't recall. We too had once each other loved, and frequently did meet. We too were once intimate, you may or mayn't recall. Your getting cross on the union night, spurning all my pleas, Your insistent "no" to everything, you may or mayn't recall. Whom you counted as your friend, faithful whom you thought, I am the same suffering Momin, you may or mayn't recall."

"I feel as if you are with me, When company I have none."

"عمر ساری تو کٹی عشقِ بُتاں میں مومنؔ آخری وقت میں کیا خاک مسلماں ہوں گے"

"Happy is the man who knows the true from the false, and refuses to accept less."

"Those who live by bread alone will submit, for the sake of it, to the vilest abuse, like a hungry dog."

"It is best to avoid low company, whether they come in peace or in war."

"Good intentions are useless in the absence of common-sense."