Ghazal · 13th century

I Was Dead, I Came Alive

Rumiمولانا

مرده بدم زنده شدم، گریه بدم خنده شدم

I was dead, I came alive; I was weeping, I became laughter;

دولت عشق آمد و من دولت پاینده شدم

the fortune of love arrived, and I became a fortune that lasts.

دیده سیر است مرا، جان دلیر است مرا

My eye is full and wants nothing; my soul is bold;

زهره شیر است مرا، زهره تابنده شدم

I have the gall of a lion; I have become shining Venus.

گفت که: «دیوانه نه‌ای، لایق این خانه نه‌ای»

He said, ‘You are not mad, you are not fit for this house.’

رفتم دیوانه شدم سلسله بندنده شدم

I went and went mad, and was bound in chains.

گفت که: «سرمست نه‌ای، رو که از این دست نه‌ای»

He said, ‘You are not drunk; go, you are not of this kind.’

رفتم و سرمست شدم وز طرب آکنده شدم

I went and became drunk, and was filled with joy.

گفت که: «تو کشته نه‌ای، در طرب آغشته نه‌ای»

He said, ‘You have not been slain, you are not steeped in joy.’

پیش رخ زنده‌کنش کشته و افکنده شدم

Before his life-giving face I was slain and cast down.

گفت که: «تو زیرککی، مست خیالی و شکی»

He said, ‘You are a clever little one, drunk on fancy and doubt.’

گول شدم، هول شدم، وز همه برکنده شدم

I became a fool, I became frantic, I was torn away from everything.

گفت که: «تو شمع شدی، قبله این جمع شدی»

He said, ‘You have become a candle, the qibla of this gathering.’

جمع نیم، شمع نیم، دود پراکنده شدم

I am no gathering, no candle; I have become scattered smoke.

گفت که: «شیخی و سری، پیش‌رو و راهبری»

He said, ‘You are a sheikh and a head, a leader and a guide.’

شیخ نیم، پیش نیم، امر تو را بنده شدم

I am no sheikh, no leader; I have become the servant of your command.

From: The Divan of Shams
Translation: Persiahaus Editors
Source: Draft translation from the Ganjoor text
Persian text: Ganjoor

A note for readers

One of the most celebrated ghazals of the Divan of Shams. A voice, the beloved or love itself, tells the speaker again and again that he is not yet mad enough, drunk enough or dead enough, and each time he goes further, until he is only scattered smoke and a servant. In the second couplet zohre means both ‘gall’, or courage, and the planet Venus. The excerpt gives the first eight of twenty-one couplets.