“Sing to me in Arabic
Or sing to me in Persian.
Sing to me in languages;
All beautiful and fair.
Sing till your heart is content,
Sing till your lips become parched;
Then I shall pour you a drink,
A sober drink which is strong;
Seemingly drunk we might be,
We are soberly in Love…..”
{~Umr~}
23.12.2013
Written by Syed Umr Iftikhar Ahmed.
Artwork by “Sadaf”
from “Sadafs art gallery“
For details about artwork; click here.
Concept:
This poem owes to the pen of two of the greatest of names in poetry and spirituality. It draws ink through their fountain and thus is attributed and dedicated entirely to them. I’m but a channel of thoughts through whom these words chose to flow; these words that were there and have been there, just so, waiting to be stumbled upon by a wanderer. These words which felt like a sip of water to a parched mouth when only hoarse whispers would come. The concept is impeccable; the short-comings of this poem are due to the imperfections of the hand through which they were channelled. I hope the readers find contentment in what has been written and forgive unworthy hands of mine. Let us sip of the wine then;
The narrator in this poem is not the poet but the Beloved; addressing the lover. Mostly, poet writes as the lover to the Beloved; but perfection and destiny of Love lies in thinning of the line between the Lover and the Beloved until it completely disappears. So Beloved’s thoughts may flow through the mind of the lover. This way of writing can be observed in many of the writings of “Hafez Shirazi” (Khwaja Hafiz Shams ud Din Muhammad of Shiraz). These days I have been reading some of his poetry; In Persian with Urdu translations and also the English ones. The concepts wash over me in three languages; though of Persian I know very little; of English just enough to think and speak, and of Urdu just enough to be a son to the mother-tongue; perhaps not one to be proud of.
First three couplets are about universality of Love and thus of Beloved. It doesn’t matter in which language one praises or sings; neither Love nor melody have any language, they are a language of their own and so it is with Beloved. All languages are fair to the ears of lovers, each a different shade of Beloved’s colours. The third couplet implies that no matter how much a lover sings and praises; it can never be enough; If oceans were to become ink and if lands were to embody a pen; then oceans would go dry but praise would not end; and so it goes, let the inks be refilled and perhaps even then it would never be enough.
The fourth couplet is when the lover becomes tired; very short of what lover desired to achieve, for oceans are yet left and only a few lines have been penned. But the Beloved is a lover too; the most ardent of lovers is the Beloved. Now Beloved decides to pour a drink to the lover so that lover’s thirst might be quenched and perhaps the lover shall have more zeal to love. The drink is mystical (Sufi-ismic wine). What follows through fourth and fifth couplets is from the ocean of none other than Mevlana Jalal ud Din ‘Rumi’. This concept has been inspired by one of my favourite couplets.
شرابِ شوق می نوشم، بہ گردِ یار می گردم
سخن مستانہ می گویم، ولے ہشیار می گردم
“I’ve drunk the wine of desire and am wandering around Beloved.
Though I may seem drunk; I am quite sober.” {~ Rumi ~}
The final couplet is just a variation of words; a different shade of the same colour. A different flower of the same plant.
I hope that my readers will enjoy the poem and understand the concepts behind it. Rarely do I feel like explaining my poems but this one has inspired me in a different way and I wanted to pour through words what feelings went through my mind, my soul, my body when I penned them down.
Warmest of Regards.
– Syed Umr Iftikhar Ahmed.
“Respect the souls for who they are,
Stalking Dawn 