госпереворот

A desperate, howling Namjoo rendition of a Kermani poem.

گفتا تو از کجائی کاشفته می‌نمائی گفتم منم غریبی از شهر آشنائی گفتا سر چه داری کز سر خبر نداری گفتم بر آستانت دارم سر گدائی گفتا کدام مرغی کز این مقام خوانی گفتم که خوش نوائی از باغ بینوائی گفتا ز قید هستی رو مست شو که رستی گفتم بمی پرستی جستم ز خود رهائی گفتا جویی نیرزی گر زهد و توبه ورزی گفتم که توبه کردم از زهد و پارسائی گفتا بدلربائی ما را چگونه دیدی گفتم چو خرمنی گل در بزم دلربائی گفتا من آن ترنجم کاندر جهان نگنجم گفتم به از ترنجی لیکن بدست نائی گفتا چرا چو ذره با مهر عشق بازی گفتم از آنکه هستم سرگشته‌ئی هوائی گفتا بگو که خواجو در چشم ما چه بیند گفتم حدیث مستان سری بود خدائی

Goftaa to az kojaayi, kaashofte minaamaayi? Goftam manam gharibi, az shahre aashenaayi. Goftaa sare che daari, kaz sar khabar nadaari? Goftam bar aastaanat, daaram sare gedaayi. Goftaa kodaam morghi, kaz in maghaam khaani? Goftam ke khosh navaayi az baaghe binavaayi. Goftaa ze gheide hasti ro mast sho ke rasti. Goftam bemey parasti jastam ze khod rahaayi. Goftaa jooye nayarazi gar zohd o towbeh varzi? Goftam ke towbeh kardam az zohd o paarsaayi. Goftaa be delrobaayi maaraa chegooneh didi? Goftam cho kharmani gol dar bazme delrobaayi. Goftaa man aan toranjam, kandar jahaan nagonjam. Goftam beh az toranji, liken be dast nayaayi. Goftaa cheraa cho zareh baa mahre eshgh baazi? Goftam az aanke hastam sargashteye havaayi. Goftaa begoo ke khaajo dar cheshme maa che binad. Goftam hadise mastaan seri bood khodaayi.

He said “Where are you from, that you act so frenzied?” I said “I am a stranger from a familiar town.” He said “What do you want, that you so mindlessly pursue it?” I said “Love: it has made me a beggar at your doorstep.” He said “What kind of bird are you, that sings this song?” I said “One who sings a cheerful song in a song-less garden.” He said “You depend on worldly desires. Go! Get drunk, and be free!” (1) I said “I leapt to wine worship and am liberated from desire.” He said “But your words will be air if you seek piety and repentance."  I said "I’ve repented from piety and devoutness.” (2) He said “How do you find my charms?” I said “Like a bouquet of flowers in the feast of coquetry.” He said “I am that bergamot, which would engulf this world.” (3) I said “Better than bergamot, yet so unattainable!” He said “Why then, do you give so little of your love?"  I said "Because I am so bewildered with it."  He said "Tell me what Khajo sees in our eyes.” I said “The tale of the drunkard is a divine secret.”

(1) So basically, “My love for God has turned me into that one idiot who sings out loud on a crowded bus full of brain-dead peons.”

(2) These last four lines sound a lot like a description of the tension between Sufism and orthodox Islam. Sufism uses wine metaphors to explain the dizzying spiritual intoxication experienced from a love of God and how personal, all-devouring, esoteric (and not to mention, shameless) the experience is. Orthodox Islam is a bit more about communal piety, modesty, and repentance (a lot like Christianity). This guy is basically like “Nobody will believe your repentance if you live your life this shamelessly.” and the narrator is like “Fuck repentance! I love God!”

(3) Bergamot is a beautiful, nutritious and fragrant orange. Sometimes they’re simultaneously compared to God AND to women who seem positively angelic, because of how pretty, nourishing, and luxuriant they are. This part kind of ties the poem together because God is basically saying “I love you, and I’d be so good for you, but I’m too big to fit in your world.” and you’re basically saying “And that’s why I can never reach you…”