Fayz Kashani, Ghazal 1, "God is Within"

 

ای در هوای وصل تو گسترده جان‌ها بال‌ها

تو در دل ما بوده‌ای در جستجو ما سال‌ها

O You, in whose union’s desire the souls have spread their wings;

You have dwelled in our hearts, while we have sought You for years.

 

ای از فروغ طلعتت تابی فتاده در جهان

وی از نهیب هیبتت در ملک جان زلزال‌ها

O You, whose radiant face has cast a glow upon the world,

And from whose awe-inspiring Majesty arise earthquakes in the realm of souls.

 

سرها ز تو پُر غلغله جان‌ها ز تو پُر ولوله

تن‌ها ز تو در زلزله دل‌ها ز تو در حال‌ها

Heads are filled with tumult because of You, souls stirred in uproar from You;

Bodies quake by Your touch, hearts are swept into ecstatic states by You.

 

تن می‌کند از جان طرب جان دارد از جانان طرب

بر مقتضای روح‌ها جنبش کند تمثال‌ها

The body rejoices because of the soul, the soul rejoices because of the Beloved;

Images stir into motion in response to the soul’s command.

 

ای ساکنان کوی تو مست از شراب بی‌خودی

وی عاشقان روی تو فارغ ز قیل و قال‌ها

O You, whose neighbors are drunk on the wine of selflessness,

And Whose lovers are freed from all talk and noise of the world.

 

کردی تجلی بی‌نقاب تابان‌تر از صد آفتاب

ما را فکندی در حجاب از ابر استدلال‌ها

You disclosed Yourself without a veil, more luminous than a hundred suns;

Yet cast us into veils, behind the cloud of rational arguments.

 

آثار خود کردی عیان در گلشن حسن بتان

تا سوی حسن بی‌نشان جان‌ها گشاید بال‌ها

You revealed Your signs in the rose garden of the beauty of idols,

So that souls might spread their wings toward the signless Beauty.

 

دادی بتان را آب و رنگ در سینه دل مانند سنگ

در شستشان دام بلا از زلف و خط و خال‌ها

You gave the idols form and hue, while hearts remained as stone in their chests; In their hands, snares of affliction made from hair, line, and moles.

 

مارا ندادی صبر و تاب وز ما گرفتی رنگ و آب

وز بیدلان جستی حساب از ذره و مثقال‌ها

You gave us neither patience nor endurance, and took from us all color and vitality;

From the heart-lost, You seek account of every atom and measure.

 

ای فیض بس کن زین انین، در صنع صانع را ببین

تا آن زمین کز این زمین افتد برون اثقال‌ها

O Fayḍ, enough of this lamenting; behold the Creator in creation,

Until the earth casts off from this earth its heavy burdens.

 

Fayz Kashani, Divan, Ghazal 1, "Soul's Wings"

Translated by Rasoul Rahbari-Ghazani, 15 November 2024

Watch our analysis of this poem.

What happens when divine radiance overwhelms the intellect, when the heart trembles in longing, and when beauty becomes both a veil and a path? In this episode of the Persian Poetry Podcast, we explore Fayḍ Kāshānī’s Ghazal 1, a poem that reveals the paradox of human longing: the Beloved dwells in our hearts, yet we search endlessly outside ourselves. Through Farsi recitation and deep English commentary, we unfold the poem’s mystical-philosophical insights: the immanence of the Divine within the soul and the world, the limitations of rational argument as a veil to truth, the double-edged nature of beauty, and the transformative ecstasy of mystical states.