Fayz, "Love Surpasses Reason on the Path to the Divine," Ghazal 52
علم رسمی از کجا عرفان کجا
دانش فکری کجا وجدان کجا
How can formal knowledge be compared to mysticism?
How can discursive knowledge be compared to the heart’s knowledge?
عشق را با عقل نسبت کی توان
شاه فرمان ده کجا دربان کجا
How can love ever be compared to reason?
How can the commanding king be compared to the gatekeeper?
کی بجانان میرسد بی عشق جان
جان بی عشق از کجا جانان کجا
How can the soul reach the Beloved without love?
Where is the soul without love, where is the Beloved?
کی دلی بی عشق بیند روی دوست
قطرهٔ خون از کجا عمان کجا
How can a heart without love ever see the face of the Friend?
How can a drop be compared to the ocean?
جان و دل هم عشق باشد در بدن
زاهدان را دل کجا یا جان کجا
Both the soul and the heart are but love within the body,
Where is the heart or the soul among the ascetics?
دردها را عشق درمان میکند
درد را بی عاشقی درمان کجا
Love heals pains,
Without love, where is the cure for pain?
عشق این را این و این را آن کند
گر نباشد عشق این و ان کجا
Love transforms this into that and that into this,
If not for love, where would this and that be?
عشق خان و مان هر بی خان و مان
فیض را بی عشق، خان و مان کجا
Love is the home and shelter of every homeless,
Without love, where is Fayḍ’s home and shelter?
(Translated by Rasoul Rahbari-Ghazani, 15 November 2024)
Watch our analysis of this poem.
Can reason alone lead us to the Divine, or is there something even more powerful? In this episode, we explore Ghazal 5 by Mulla Muhsin Fayḍ Kashani, where he contrasts reason and love as two paths toward spiritual truth. While reason can point us toward the Divine, Kashani reveals that only love grants true connection and deepens our spiritual awakening.