About This Blog

Monday, August 23, 2010

Aql-o-Dil



Nizamuddin Awlia  (d. 1325 A.D.) of the Chishti Order of the Sufis, taught the following: "For a dervish, three things are necessary. They all begin with an 'ain' (an Arabic letter), i.e., Ishq (love), Aql (intellect) and Ilm (knowledge)."

And it happens in just the same order. Without the flame of the torch of a heart in Love, one travels through the mysteries of life like a blind man making his way through a carnival in full swing.




Iqbal's عقل و دل (Aql-o-Dil) Reason (/intellect) And Heart reads:






عقل نے ایک دن یہ دل سے کہا 





بھولے بھٹکے کی رہنما ہوں میں 





ہوں زمیں پر ، گزر فلک پہ مرا 





دیکھ تو کس قدر رسا ہوں میں 





کام دنیا میں رہبری ہے مرا 





مثل خضر خجستہ پا ہوں میں 





ہوں مفسر کتاب ہستی کی 





مظہر شان کبریا ہوں میں 





بوند اک خون کی ہے تو لیکن 





غیرت لعل بے بہا ہوں میں 





دل نے سن کر کہا یہ سب سچ ہے 





پر مجھے بھی تو دیکھ ، کیا ہوں میں 





راز ہستی کو تو سمجھتی ہے 





اور آنکھوں سے دیکھتا ہوں میں 





ہے تجھے واسطہ مظاہر سے 





اور باطن سے آشنا ہوں میں 





علم تجھ سے تو معرفت مجھ سے 





تو خدا جو ، خدا نما ہوں میں 





علم کی انتہا ہے بے تابی 





اس مرض کی مگر دوا ہوں میں 





شمع تو محفل صداقت کی 





حسن کی بزم کا دیا ہوں میں 





تو زمان و مکاں سے رشتہ بپا 





طائر سدرہ آشنا ہوں میں 





کس بلندی پہ ہے مقام مرا 





عرش رب جلیل کا ہوں میں

Aql nay ik din yeh dil say kaha
Bhulay bhatkay ki rahnuma hoon mein

Hoon zamin par, guzar falaq pay mira
Dekh tto kis qadar rasa hoon mein

Kaam dunya mein rehbari ha mira
Mislay Khizr khajastah pa hoon mein

Hoon mufassir kitabay hasti ki
Mazharay shanay kibriya hoon mein

Bund ik khon ki hay ttu lekin
Gheratay la'lay bebaha hoon mien

Dil nay sun kar kaha yeh sab sach hay
Par mujhay bhi tto dekh, kiya hoon mein

Razay hasti ko ttu samajhti hay
Oor ankhon say dekhta hoon mein!

Hay tujhay wasta mazahir say
Oor batin say aashna hoon mein

Ilm tujh say tto ma'rifat mujh say
Ttu Khudaju, Khudanuma hoon mein

Ilm ki entehaa hai betabi
Is marz ki magar dawa hoon mein

Shamma ttu mehfilay sidaqat ki
Husn ki bazm ka diya hoon mein

Ttu zaman-o-makan say rishtah bapa
Tairay sidrah aashna hoon mien

Kis bulandi pay hay maqam mira
Arsh Rabbay Jaleel ka hoon mein!
TRANSLATION:
Reason said to the heart one day
"I am the beacon for the astray and the lost
Being on earth, its the heavens I negotiate
Do ye look at the reach of my access!
Guidance on earth is my affair
In character of the benign Khidr is my symbol
Interpreter to the scripture of self am I
Manifestation of the glory of the Magnificent I am
The droplet of blood that ye are
Yet the envy of the priceless ruby is I"
Listening this the heart replied, "True it is
But you look at me as well, to know what am I
You appreciate the enigma of life
Witnessing it through my vision is but I 
The manifest order is a concern of you
And an acquaintance of the inward am I
Of you is the learning, and the Knowledge of the Divine is mine 
A seeker of the God is you, An expression of the God am I
Discontent is the absolute of reason
But the cure to this malady is I
In you is the torch of the assembly of truth
Light of the House of Beauty is but I
Belonging to the coordinates of time and space are you
The Bird intimate to the Sidrah (pedestal higher than the 7th sky) am I
Look at the heights of my station
The throne of the Majestic Lord is I!





PS: The translation is as per my humble understanding, and in its imperfection bears no closeness to the beauty of the original verse.

PS 2: Rumi's take on the same issue: Intellect Versus Love has been shared in the following comments.

3 comments:

Gabriela Abalo said...

a beautiful post!

thanks for translating the verse.

loveNlight
Gabi

leenah. said...

The pleasure is all mine :)

love.

leenah. said...

As shared by a kind visitor, meer., following is the take of Rumi on the same, ie Intellect versus Love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFaXWWE9NUc


with the curtains of blood are the rose-gardens of love
lovers have business to conduct with the unsurpassed beauty of love

intellect says; "the six directions (sapce) are the limit and there is no way out"
love says: "there is a way and I have traveled it many a times"

Intellect saw a bazaar and started doing business
Love has its sight on many bazaars beyond that baazar

There are many hidden Mansurs, who with the confidence of soul of love
Have abandoned the pulpit and have been hung on gallows

The dreg-drinking lovers find many joys in it
but the dark hearted intellectuals are in denials about it

Intellect says: "don't set your food , for in the non-existence there is nothing except thorns"
Love says to intellect that :"within you are those thorns"

Listen! be quiet! pluck the thorns of existence from the feet of your heart
So you can can see rose-gardens within yourself

Shams e Tabrizi ! you are the sun in the cloud of words
When your sun has risen , the words have evaporated