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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Another Round of Lovewine, Winemaster! [Keep Passing the Wine of Love] (Bade Begardan Saghia)

Book of Shams - Ode 9
Man az koja, Pand az Koja, Bade Begardan Saghiah
An jame jan afzay ra bar jan beriz, Saaghia!


Where am I and where is wisdom? Give us a round of lovewine, O Winemaster!
Pour that life-giving cup onto my Soul, O Winemaster!

Bar daste man neh jame jan, ey dastgire asheghan
Door az labe biganegan, pish ar penhan, Saaghia!


Place the lifecup in my hand, O Savior of lovers
Far from the lips of strangers, bring it forth in secret, O Winemaster!

Nani bede nankhare ra, an tame-e bichare ra
an ashege nanbare ra, konji bekhosban Saaghia!


Give some bread to the breadeater, that poor breadseeker
that lover raised on bread, give him a corner to sleep - O Winemaster!

Ey Jane Jane Jane Jan, ma namadim az bahre nan
barje, geda rooi makon, dar bazme soltan, Saaghia!


O Life of Life of Life of Life [the innermost dwelling soul within my soul] we haven't come for bread!
Rise up! Don't make that beggarface at the king's party, O Winemaster!

Aval begir an jame meh, bar kafeye an Pir neh
Chon mast gardad an Pire deh, ro sooye mastan Saaghia!


First pick up that grand cup,give it to the Master there,
When he becomes lovedrunk, to the lovedrunk then, O Winemaster!

Roo sakht kon ey mortaja, mast az koja, sharm az koja
var sharm daram yek ghadah, bar sharm afsham Saaghia!


Make a stern face, O seeker, shame and lovedrunk do not mix!
for if i have a vat of shame, pour that on shame, O Winemaster!

Barkhiz ey Saghi bia! Ey doshman e sharm o haya!
Ta bakhte ma khandan shavad, pish a khandan Saaghia!


Rise and come O Winebearer! Enemy of shame and guilt!
So our fate becomes joyous, come forth in joy -- O Winemaster!

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Commentary
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soulwine. the wine refrred to here is the wine of the soul, or "soulwine". That which nourishes the soul of the seeker of Truth and is thus dubbed, "soulwine".

The Winebearer or Saghi . Is the one who gives you the soulwine and thus has a very special and esteemed stature in the mystical poetry of Rumi and other mystics. This entire ode addresses the Winemaster or Saghi. He (She) is more than a cupbearer, a winebearer a bartender; He is the Master who will give you the soulwine to transform your soul and experience into pure bliss and you should have no qualms or reservations or guilt or shame in experiencing this bliss and joy coming from deep within you; deep within your soul. Notice that Rumi does not refer to the "soul" directly and we are bringing this metaphor out for explanations purposes only.

Jaan -- the Essence, the Soul. Rumi refers to "Jaan"; Jaan means Life, the life force, the essence of a thing, the Atma, the Soul.
"Jaan afza" in life 1, refers to that which increases Jaan, or the lifeforce. He has the winemaster to pour that which increases his life-essence on his life-essence.

"Jaam" -- the Cup and "Jaan" -- Life or essence. should not be confused. One ends in "m" and the other in "n" . Jaam is the cup and Jaan is the essence or lifeforce or soul of a human being. He asks the winemaster to pour the cup of life-elixir onto his soul (life essence).


He asks the winemaster to pour the soulwine onto his Jaan, his Self, his Soul. Notice Rumi does not ask FOR a cup but asks the winemaster to POUR the cup of life onto his soul. In line 2 Rumi, representing the seeker of Love and Life and the Spiritual Seeker, asks to be given this cup of life-essence.

"The bread-seeker" He then extends the metaphor of wine to that of bread. He says in verse 3, give some bread to the bread eaters, those seeking bread, those hungry for nourishment of the soul.

"give him a corner to sleep". He then extends this metaphor yet again to giving the seeker a place to rest/sleep. Give soulwine, give lifebread and then a corner to rest and sleep and rejuvenate.

"Jaane Jaane Jaane Jaan" -- "the Life of Life of Life of Life" -- The soul within the soul within the soul within the soul.
This is not Rumi's first reference to the soul within the soul, akin to Atma, the "Dweller within the body" or the Self (see Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Baghavad Gita). He is addressing the Winemaster all along, and he then refers to the Winemaster as the Essence of Life itself, the Life of life. And says, we are not here for bread!

At the King's party all is plentiful. But he is referring to his own Self within the Self and asking it to Get up and don't put on that beggar's face at the King's Party, where all is Abundance and there is plenty for all. No need to have that same countenance or attitude of wanting: there is abundance for all.

Mr.Parviz Shahbazi has posted two wonderful performances of this ode

Shajarian 1

Shajarian 2

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for this beautiful post. I had came across this video of a performance Shahrokh Moshkin-Ghalam and Hamed Nikpay. It is of this poem, isn't it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU_sk8-faUY

Thank you again.

Anonymous said...

Here's a simply breathtaking performance of Saghia by Ostad Mohammad Reza Shajarian, with ensemble. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mXrPD06bb0