Persian Poetry

ABOUT TRUTH

I want to tell you one truth,
I can sum it up in just two words:
Through Your love, I will enter the Earth,
Through Your love, I will exit the Earth.

Abu Sa’id Abul Khayr (967 – 1049), the first Sufi writer who spoke about the mystical unity with God through the form of love poems, played a crucial role in the development of Persian Sufi poetry. He gained fame throughout the Islamic world during his lifetime.

KNOWLEDGE

You are worth as much as your knowledge brings you honor,
Wealth, appearance, money – none of it makes you indebted.

No slanders can belittle a ruler praised for their knowledge and skills.

Even if a sword rests in its scabbard,
It cannot harm its blade.

And although the Moon hides behind clouds to the eye,
It does not darken in shadow, nor does it lose its shine.

Even in chains, a lion still engages in hunting,
An angry lion in captivity remains honorable.

Farrukhi Sistani (Abul Hasan Ali ibn Julugh Farrukhi Sistani), a court poet of the Turkish rulers of the Ghaznavid dynasty (10th-11th century).

, a ništa ne gubi,
U njenoj sudbini nalazi se ljepota skrivena.
Jer iako je mala i beznačajna,
Ona nosi u sebi potencijal za veličinu.
Kao što voda može preplaviti more,
Tako i naša snaga i moć mogu biti beskrajne.
Neka nas ove pouke vremena podsjete
Da čak i najmanje stvari mogu imati veliki utjecaj. And where the throne is lifted,
To become something, it descends to nothing.
Saadi (Abu Muhammad Muslih al Din bin Abdallah Shirazi) (1213 – 1291), one of the most famous Persian poets. His works Golestan (Rose Garden) and Bustan (Orchard) have been translated into many languages, and his mausoleum in his hometown of Shiraz is a place of pilgrimage. The elegant linguistic figures from his poems are still vivid in Persian speech today.

A WORLD FULL OF YOU

Oh, You in my soul, and my soul doesn’t even know!
Oh, You who fill the world, and it doesn’t even know!

The wisdom of old age and the youth of youth walk in Your path,
An old man without Your sign, and not even a young man knows You.

When the heart and soul realize that You dwell eternally within them,
As if they haven’t learned anything – not a single one knows You.

Your image in thoughts, but the understanding of You is unattainable,
Your name on the tongue always, but the tongue doesn’t comprehend You.

By name and sign, people know about You,
But nobody knows anything about You from this abundance.

So what’s the point of even trying to explain You In words,
When every description is barren, when interpretation does not know You?

Those who seek a pearl in the sea of Your existence,
Have reached certain knowledge, but do not have a clue about You.

The aroma calls for You, expressing Your eternal love,
Neither it, nor others, know anything, absolutely nothing, about You.

Feriduddin Muhammed Attar (Abu Hamid bin Abu Bakr Ibrahim) (circa 1142 – 1221), a pharmacist and sufi. His most famous work is Manteq al-tayr (The Conference of the Birds) which consists of 4458 verses. The birds represent those who search for truth, and the symbol of truth is the mythical bird simorgh. The comparison of the human soul with a bird and the body with a cage, and the captivity of the soul in the body, is a theme present in the works of all Islamic philosophers and mystics. They paid special attention to the soul’s striving to break free from the cage of the body.

NO ONE KNOWS

Only a few days have I been in the world,
The wind brought me to this land.

At times with defiance, at times with tenderness,
I stain my pure soul.

In my heart, I ignite a fire,
From my eyes, I shed tears,

Because no the demands of the devilish
I was never happy for a moment.

In the end, when everything came to an end,
I set off to harvest my fruits;

No one knows where I went,
Nor do I know where I was.

Ibn Sina (latinized Avicenna, 980 – 1037), an extraordinarily versatile Persian doctor and the most famous Islamic philosopher. His most famous work is the Canon of Medicine. In his philosophy, which is based on Aristotle’s teachings, he seeks to reconcile rational philosophy and Islamic theology. Towards the end of his life, he became close to Sufism.

Selected by Hana Lencović[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]