The Song of the Reed
Rumiمولوی
بشنو این نی چون شکایت می‌کند
Listen to this reed, how it complains,
از جدایی‌ها حکایت می‌کند
telling the tale of separations:
کز نیستان تا مرا ببریده‌اند
“Ever since they cut me from the reed bed,
در نفیرم مرد و زن نالیده‌اند
men and women have wept at my cry.”
A note for readers
These are the opening couplets of the Masnavi, Rumi’s long spiritual poem in rhyming couplets, composed in Persian in Konya. The reed flute, or ney, cut from its reed bed, is traditionally read as the soul separated from its divine origin. The passage, often called the Song of the Reed, is among the most recited lines in the Persian language. Some manuscripts and popular editions begin with a slightly different first line.
The printچاپ
Song of the Reed
نوای نیMore poemsشعرهای دیگر
بلبلی برگ گلی خوش رنگ در منقار داشت
و اندر آن برگ و نوا خوش ناله‌های زار داشت
A nightingale held in its beak a rose petal of lovely colour,
and with that petal and its song it made sweet, piteous laments.
A nightingale held a rose petal
ستاره ای بدرخشید و ماه مجلس شد
دل رمیده ما را رفیق و مونس شد
A star shone out and became the moon of the gathering,
became friend and companion to our startled heart.
A star shone out
سحر بلبل حکایت با صبا کرد
که عشق روی گل با ما چه‌ها کرد
At dawn the nightingale told its tale to the east wind:
"See what love for the rose's face has done to us!"