Each speck of matter did He constitute
A mirror, causing each one to reflect
The beauty of His Visage. From the roe
Flashed forth His Beauty, and the nightingale
Beholding it, loved madly. From that Light
The candle drew the lustre which beguiles
The moth to immolation. On the sun
His Beauty shone, and straightway from the wave
The lotus reared its head. Each shining lock
Of Leyla’s hair attracted Majnun’s heart
Because some ray divine reflected shone
In her fair face. ’Twas He to Shirin’s lips
Who lent that sweetness which has the power to steal
The heart from Parviz and from Ferhad life. —quoted in A Year Among the Persians (trans. E.G. Browne)
Mulla Nur al-Din ’Abd al-Rahman Jami (1414–1492) is considered one of the greatest Persian poets of all time and one of the last great Sufi poets. The author of about 87 books and countless letters, Jami wrote history, philosophy and theology, although he is best known in the West for his verse. Included in the larger work Haft Awrang (“seven thrones”), Jami’s poem “Yusuf and Zulaykha” retells the story of Jacob’s son Joseph and Potiphar’s wife — as found in the Koran.
Each speck of matter did He constitute
A mirror, causing each one to reflect
The beauty of His Visage. From the roe
Flashed forth His Beauty, and the nightingale
Beholding it, loved madly. From that Light
The candle drew the lustre which beguiles
The moth to immolation. On the sun
His Beauty shone, and straightway from the wave
The lotus reared its head. Each shining lock
Of Leyla’s hair attracted Majnun’s heart
Because some ray divine reflected shone
In her fair face. ’Twas He to Shirin’s lips
Who lent that sweetness which has the power to steal
The heart from Parviz and from Ferhad life. —quoted in A Year Among the Persians (trans. E.G. Browne)
Mulla Nur al-Din ’Abd al-Rahman Jami (1414–1492) is considered one of the greatest Persian poets of all time and one of the last great Sufi poets. The author of about 87 books and countless letters, Jami wrote history, philosophy and theology, although he is best known in the West for his verse. Included in the larger work Haft Awrang (“seven thrones”), Jami’s poem “Yusuf and Zulaykha” retells the story of Jacob’s son Joseph and Potiphar’s wife — as found in the Koran.