Beautiful Farsi poem I came across the other day:
“What say you, that heaven is in the afterlife!
Wherever you have a good time, there is paradise.
Hell is the darkness we carry inside,
If no darkness inside, the whole world is paradise.”
This poem is from 17th Century poet Saeb Tabrizi, who is known for perfecting the “Indian style” of poetry in Farsi.
Born in Iran (in Tabriz), Saeb traveled extensively in his youth, before settling down for a long time in Kabul.
He was most touched by his travels to India though, and brought elements from poems he had studied in India into Farsi poetry.
Among others, the “Indian style” of Farsi poetry is known for heavy uses of metaphors, similes and analogies to convey complex ideas, and lots of repetition and intertwining of images and concepts.
May we all realize that heaven and hell, though they may exist in the afterlife too, certainly do exist in our lives — we can choose to bring them about, in ourselves, and our communities.
—————
The original:
این چه حرفیست که در عالم بالاست بهشت!
هر کجا وقت خوش افتاد، همانجاست بهشت.
دوزخ از تیرگیِ بختِ درونِ تو بوَد
گر درون تیره نباشد، همه دنیاست بهشت.
صائب تبریزی
Comments