Doosh, Vaghte Sahar | Last Night, at the Break of Dawn…

Listen to the original poem, here:

 گنجور » حافظ » غزلیات » غزل شمارهٔ ۱۸۳

دوش وقتِ سَحَر از غُصّه نجاتم دادند

واندر آن ظلمتِ شب آبِ حیاتم دادند

doosh vaghte sahar az ghoseh nejatam dadand

vandar an zolmate shab abe hayatam dadand

doosh - last night; vaghte - at the time of; sahar - dawn; az - from; ghoseh - suffering; nejatam - they rescued me; dadand - they gave; vandar - and in; an - that; zolmate - darkness; shab - night; abe hayat - water of life, or knowledge of eternity; dadand - they gave.

Last night, at the break of dawn, I was delivered from sorrow.
And in the dark night of the soul, I was given eternity (the water of life).

بیخود از شَعْشَعِهٔ پرتوِ ذاتم کردند

باده از جامِ تَجَلّیِّ صفاتم دادند

beekhod az shashah’eye partove zaatam kardand

baadeh az jaame tajalieh sefaatam daadand

beekhod - spontaneously; az - from; sha’sha’ehye - radiating, ray of light; partove - beam of knowledge; zaatam - my essence; kardand - they gave; baadeh - then; az - from; jaame - cup (of intoxicating knowledge); tajalieh - manifested; sefaatam - divine qualities and attributes; daadand - they gave. 

The ray of divine knowledge intoxicated my soul, beyond this body of earth. 

In the cup of surrender, your divine qualities unfold.

چه مبارک‌سَحَری بود و چه فرخنده‌شبی
آن شبِ قدر که این تازه‌براتم دادند

che mobarak saharee bood o che farkhondeh shabi

an shabe ghadr ke een tazeh baraatam daadand

che - what; mobarak - celebrated; saharee - dawn; bood - it was; o - and; che - what; farkhondeh - auspicious; shabi - night; an - that; shabe ghadr - most auspicious, sacred night; ke - that; een - this; tazeh - new; baraatam - prize, treasure; daadand - they gave.

What a blessed night, and a most cherished dawn!

That night of power, when I was granted this new destiny. 

بعد از این رویِ من و آینهٔ وصفِ جمال
که در آن‌جا خبر از جلوهٔ ذاتم دادند

baad az een rooye mano ayeneh vasfeh jamal
Keh dar anja khabare jelvehyeh zaatam dadand

baad - after; az - from; een - this; rooye - on; mano - me and; ayeneh - the mirror; vasfeh - description; jamal - beauty; keh - that; dar - in; anja - that place; khabare - revelation; jelvehyeh - a surface, or manifestation of; zaatam - my essence; dadand - they gave. 

With this, I see on me, the mirror of divine beauty
Revealing the radiance of Your essence.

من اگر کامروا گشتم و خوشدل چه عجب؟
مستحق بودم و این‌ها به زکاتم دادند

man agar kamrava gashtam o khoshdel, che ajab?
mostahagh boodam o eenha be zakatam dadand. 

man- me; agar - if; kamrava - tastes sweet, arriving at sweetness ; gashtam - i searched; o - and; khoshdel - happy hearted; che ajab - you wonder why; mostahagh - seeking my share; boodam - I was; o - and; eenha - these; be - of; zakaat - alms; am - to me; dadand - they gave. 

Do you wonder how I searched and now taste such sweetness?
As a beggar, I sought out the alms of Your Mercy, and this is the gift You bestowed.

هاتف آن روز به من مژدهٔ این دولت داد
که بِدان جور و جفا صبر و ثباتم دادند

Hatef an rooz be man mojdeh yeh een dolat dad
Keh bedaan jor o jafa sabro sobaatam dadand

Hatef - the angels like Gabriel, sharing transcendental messages; an - that; rooz - day; yeh - of; een - this; dolat - state or association; dad - gave; keh - that; bedan - to know; jor o jafa - struggle and misery; sabr - patience; o - and; sobaatam - stability, steadiness; daadand - they gave. 

In the dark night, the angels unveiled this sacred state;
blessing my patience with a reward beyond measure…

این همه شهد و شِکر کز سخنم می‌ریزد
اجرِ صبریست کز آن شاخِ نباتم دادند

een hameh shahdo shekar kaz sokhanam mirizad
ajreh sabrist kaz an shakheh nabatam dadand

een hameh - all of this; shahd o shekar - nectar and sugar; ke az - that from; sokhanam - my words; mirizad - drips; ajreh - reward, gift; sabrist- patience; kaz an - from; shakheh nabatam - branch of candy; dadand - they gave.

All this honey and sweetness pouring from my words,
Is the gift of patient endurance, from the sugar branch I was offered. 

همّتِ حافظ و انفاسِ سحرخیزان بود
که ز بندِ غمِ ایّام نجاتم دادند

Hemateh Hafez o anfaseh saharkhizaan bood
Keh zeh bandeh ghameh ayam nejatam dadand

hemate - devotion, dedication, effort; hafez - the poet; o - and; anfaseh - breath; saharkhizan - those who wake up in before dawn (sahar); bood - it was; keh - that; zeh - of; bandeh - the shackles; ghameh - sorrow; ayam - days; nejatam - rescued me; dadand - they gave.  

Your effort, Hafiz, and the merciful breath of those who awaken before dawn,
Frees one from the shackles of the temporal world, and sets the soul free, beyond the grasp of time…

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Letter of Secrets by Attar of Nishapur

Select Verses from “The Letter of Secrets” 

دلا یک دم رها کن آب و گل را

صلای عشق درده اهل دل را

Dela yek dam raha kon abo gel ra
Salaye eshgh darde ahle del ra

Dela-heart; yek-one; dam-breath; raha-surrender; kon-do; ab-water; o-and; gel-mud; ra-of; Salaye-prayer; eshgh-love; darde-pain; ahle-original; del-soul or heart; ra-of.

Oh heart, for just one breath, surrender this life of water and mud (let go of thinking you’re the body).
Respond to the call of love and soothe the primal pain of your soul. 

ز نور عشق شمع جان برافروز

زبور عشق از جانان درآموز

Ze noore eshgh sham-e jaan barafrooz
Zaboore eshgh az jaanan daramooz

Ze-from; noor-light; e-of; eshgh-love; sham-candle; e-of; jaan-soul; barafrooz-burning  brilliant; Zaboor-Psalms of David; eshgh-love; az-from; jaanan-the lovers; dar-internal or essence; amooz-discover or learn.

The book of love is directly coming from God - like the Psalms were given to David. Come learn the book of love directly from the lovers. Surrender to discover the essence. 

Love has a quality: pay attention…
Lovers have a brilliant light beaming from within.
Love can’t be explained. Only experienced.
How can you know honey - unless you’ve tasted it? 

حدیث عشق ورد عاشقان ساز

دل و جان در هوای عاشقان باز

Hadis-e eshgh verde asheghan saz
Del-o-jan dar havaye asheghan baz

Hadis-sayings; e-of; eshgh-love; verde-blossom; asheghan-the Lovers; saz-instrument;
Del-heart, o-and; jan-soul; dar-inside; havaye-the skies; asheghan-the Lovers; baz-lose.

The mantra from the mouth of Lovers is only, “Love! Love! Bring me my Lover!”
Body and soul - surrender it, give it all to the Lovers [or those who reached great heights]!
(love can’t be explained through logic - only through feeling / experience). 

Follow these Truth knowers - they are the Lovers, Dervishes, and the most Sincere. 

چوعشق آمد خرد را میل درکش

بداغ عشق خود را نیل درکش

Cho eshgh amad kheradra meyl darkesh
Be dagh-e eshgh khodra nil darkesh

Cho-rumor; eshgh-love; amad-came; kherad-reason/logic; meyle-desire; darkesh-understanding. Be-of, dagh-hot; e-of; eshgh-love; khod-Self; ra-to; nil-the River Nile; darkesh-understand or pull towards.

Once you surrender [to Love] lose your mind. Stop questioning, calculating. Dive into love. Go into the heat of love fully …Fall in love like someone who drops themselves in the Nile river: drown yourself! There is so much depth to this love… Become intoxicated! Forget yourself!

خرد آبست و عشق آتش بصورت

نسازد آب با آتش ضرورت

Kherad ab asto eshgh atash be soorat
Nasazad ab ba atash zaroorat

Kherad-wisdom, knowledge; ab-water; ast-is; eshgh-love; atash-fire; be-in; soorat-face or form; Na-not; sazad-play together; ab-water; ba-with; atash-fire; zaroorat-necessity.

Knowledge appears like water, Love appears like fire;
In form, these instruments don’t play well together.

Often we have no patience for real love. We get sick of each other, and don’t want to deal with the fire of love. The mind tells us to let go (like water on fire). If you follow the mind, you will certainly lose love. Know as long as you are following your mind, you abandon Love.

****************************
Translated from Farsi by Leila Musavi and into English by Parastou Marashi
Parastou’s Note:

The mind is often so busy thinking: let me do this! Let me call this person, get this done, go here, go there. We can get lost in a mad chase, following the whims of our minds! But what if instead we take a moment to pause and get truly present to what we are doing RIGHT NOW, to breathe more fully, to listen more attentively, to speak with intention, to dive deeply in our divine relationship, and to be with what is right in front of us… 

Context:

I was asked if I could help producer Holmes Ives find an English translation of a section from the Persian Sufi poet Attar’s poem, Letter of Secrets, Part Five.  The poem was brought to Ives by a Persian vocalist for an album project to be released on Six Degrees Records (label of the Persian fusion group, Niyaz). 

For the select translated verses, I provide the source in Farsi, a transliteration, and a translation that provides the essential meaning of the poem, from the perspective of Islamic spirituality and mysticism. For translations, I opted to use the essential translations as defined by Leila.

About Attar:

Abū Ḥamīd bin Abū Bakr Ibrāhīm, better known by his pen-names Farīd ud-Dīn and ʿAṭṭār (Attar means apothecary) was a Persian poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense and lasting influence on Persian poetry and sufism.The Conference of the Birds] and The Book of Divine are among his most famous works.

The Poet, Attar, is a True Knower, a Hakim (one who knows mysticism). 

He is a Lover of God, Fully Surrendered. 

Note: all the greatest Persian poets of the past were true hakims, and they explained deep spiritual subjects in their poetry.

Summary of Letter of Secrets | Part Five 

In Islamic philosophy, Love has the highest position, and is the very root and source of all existence. Love is higher than the mind, logic, or any knowledge that exists. Everything that exists in this universe comes from the mind—and mind was created as a servant of Love. In many mystical traditions (sufism, kabbalah, bhakti yoga) it is clearly defined that if a person wants to walk toward Truth, they must surrender their mind to the Path of Love.

The purpose of knowledge is to get us to the experience of love, to understand what love is capable of… but ultimately, we must surrender to the process and experience it firsthand. 

Our minds can get us to a certain point - but we have to offer our minds to the process of connection with the divine. 

In Letter of Secrets, Attar wants to speak about the highest stages of love. Not only the love of your lover, another person, your child—though these are all important and essential loving relationships—he wants us to learn about the existence of the universe as a result of divine love.