A Maṣnavī in Praise of Coffee: [prepared] at the bidding of Nawāb ‘Umdat al-Mulk Amīr Khān Bahādur

Shāh “Ḥātim” (1699–1783)

jahāṅ meṅ sard-mihrī se ḵẖhizāṅ hai                              /1/ jo ham se garm hai to qahwah-dāṅ hai ba-jā hai us kī muj^h se garm-joshī                                    /2/ kih jane hai mirī paimānah-noshī jahāṅ dek^ho t^hāṅ har ān qahwah                                    /3/ hai bazm-i ʿaish kā sāmān qahwah qabūl-i bār-gāh-i bādshāhāṅ                                          /4/|julūs[/shakwah]-i dast-i ṣāḥib-i dast-gāhāṅ hai shākī rāt aur din nīṅd us hāt^h                                     /5/ ʿadāwat hai use nisyān ke sāt^h anīs-i rūḥ o jāṅ o rāḥat-i dil                                            /6/ jalīs-i bazm o raunaq-baḵẖsh-i maḥfil barāʾe ḥurmat-afzāʾe tawāẓŏʿ                                          /7/ tawāẓŏʿ us kī hai jāʾe tawāẓŏʿ hai nūr-i dīdah-i mardum piyālah                                    /8/ sawād-i surmah-yi ćashm-i g̲h̲azālah ba-jā hai ć^hoṛ kar masnad-nishīnī                                    /9/ yahāṅ ho qahwah-|paz [/bar] fag̲h̲ẖfūr-i ćīnī sab^h oṅ ke hāt^h majlis meṅ piyālah                              /10/ ćaman-sā k^hil rahā yik-dast lālah muj^he is ān gul lālah kī d^hun hai                                    /11/ kih piyālah |āp [/āb] hai aur dāg̲h̲ẖ bun hai mirā yik muʾnis-i dil bun rahā hai                                 /12/ so us kā b^hī kalejā b^hun rahā hai vŏh mulk-i ʿishq kā sult̤ān haigā                           /13/ kih sīnah ćāk o dil birān haigā hai sab rangoṅ men qahwe kā ʿajab rang                        /14/ gahe tāʾūsī o gāhe hai shab-rang billaurīṅ yūṅ lage qahwe se ab jām                              /15/ gale miltī hai goyā ṣubḥ aur shām muj^he har din yĕh ćāroṅ jām bas haiṅ                           /16/ do piyāle subḥ aur do shām bas haiṅ billaurīṅ sāt piyāle piyālah-dāṅ meṅ                              /17/ hai jin kī roshnī haft āsmāṅ meṅ mis̤āl-i ʿaqd-i parvīṅ ek jā haiṅ                           /18/ jo kahīye sabʿa-saiyāra ba-jā haiṅ ba-jā hai us kī ahl-i bazm ko ćāh                                    /19/ hameshah gar nah ho to gāh |bī [/bar] gāh kih us ko dil jalon se rāh haigī                                       /20/ har ik ṣŏḥbat kī kab parwāh haigī nahīṅ hotā ba-juz-i ashrāf ke yār                                       /21/ sadā hai ṣŏḥbat-i pājī se be-zār jahāṅ meṅ zindagī ḥātim do dam hai                              /22/ id^har qahwah ud^har ḥuqqe kā dam hai

When chilly behavior brings autumn to the world,             /1/It is the Coffeepot who remains warm with us.Its warm affection toward me is fitting                              /2/Since it has taken the measure of my drinking.Look anywhere! Coffee’s always there—                              /3/For bouts of revelry, Coffee’s a necessity.Kindly received in the courts of kings,                              /4/Majestic in the hand of the mighty,Night and day, Sleep rails at its hand;                              /5/With Forgetfulness, it has enmity.Colleague to spirit and soul, comfort to the heart,            /6/Guest of honor, light gracing the gathering.And so, to bring honor to Hospitality,                              /7/The place of hospitality is its gift of hospitality.The cup is the light in the eyes of men,                              /8/The blackness of kohl on a young gazelle’s eye.Having given up his throne, it is fitting                              /9/The Emperor of China here serves Coffee.In the hands of all at the gathering is the Cup—            /10/Tulips blooming throughout like a garden.I am now so absorbed by longing for the tulip,                  /11/That the Cup is my self, and the Bean, the wound.The Bean remains my heart’s sole intimate:                  /12/So its liver, too, carries on getting roasted.He shall be Sultan in the Realm of...