My Cheeks Are Here and You Are Looking At Roses
Quatrain 1776
I went strolling1 with (my) beloved2 in a rose garden.
(And) from lack of awareness, I cast a glance upon a rose.
[That] beloved3 said to me, "May you be ashamed,
(For) my cheeks are here and you are looking at roses!"4
--From "The Rubâ`iyât" of Jalâluddîn Rûmî (in the Dîwân-é Kabîr,
also known as "Kulliyat-é Shams" and "Dîwân-é Shams-é Tabrîz")
Adapted from "The Quatrains of Rumi," by Ibrahim Gamard and Ravan
Farhadi, an unpublished manuscript of over 800 pages.
© Ibrahim Gamard and Ravan Farhadi (translation, footnotes, &
transliteration)
Notes on the text:
This quatrains has been translated by Arberry, "The Rubâ'îyât of
Jalâl al-Dîn Rûmî: Select translations into English Verse," 1949, p.
171 (a); by Shahram Shiva, "Rending the Veil, p. 222 (based on
the authentic Foruzanfar edition, in this case). It also was made
into a version by Coleman Barks (based on a literal translation
from the Persian by John Moyne), "Open Secret: Versions of
Rumi," 1984, p. 22 (c). It occurs in Rumi's "Seven Sessions"
(Majâlis-é Sab`a)-- known as his "Sermon" [Sermon no. 6: there
are minor differences between this text and that in Foruzanfar's
edition, in line three which has "chûn dîd bot-am goft," instead of
"del-dâr ba-man goft")].
1. I went strolling [shod-am rah-goZarî]: lit., "I went road-passing."
An idiom meaning walking, strolling.
2. (my) beloved [yâr]: may also be translated as "friend."
3. beloved (del-dâr): literally, "heart-holder," one of many idioms
meaning "beloved."
4. lines three and four: express the jealousy of the beloved (for
which see Masnavi III: 1406-1437). This quatrain also occurs in
Rumi's "Seven Sermons, where he advised the seeker: "Pass on
from watching the world to viewing the Afterlife. Don't open your
eyes until you see the Beauty of the 'Lord of Majesty' [Qur'an
55:27, 78]. With the broom of "(there is) no" [lâ], sweep away
everything. Whoever is a (spiritual) king or son of a king is
certainly a carpet spreading footman. 'There is no divinity except
God' (lâ ilâha ill' Allâh -- Qur'an 47:19). The carpet spreaders for
the special ones and the beautiful ones of God are such that both
this world and the next are swept from before their eyes." After
quoting some poetic verses, Rumi added: "Don't view (anything)
except the Word of God, so that you may be the special chosen
ones of the King." [The "broom of no" (jârôb-é lâ) is a metaphor
used by the sufi poet Sana'î, died 1131]. This quatrain then
follows, and Rumi's 6th Sermon is ended.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bâ yâr ba-gol-zâr shod-am rah-goZarî
bar gol naZarê fakand-am az bê-khabarî
del-dâr ba-man goft ke sharm-at bâdâ
rokhsâr-é man în-jâ-wo tô dar gol negar-î
(rubâ`î meter: XXo oXXo oXXo oX)
