“O, God! Have mercy on me! Distracted, I whirl” — Rumi’s Gift

After Maulana Rumi (actual poet unknown)

Singing: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Qawwaals

Translated by Huma Dar

نه من  بيهوده  گرد کوچه  و  بازار  می  گردم
مذاق عاشقی  دارم  پئ  ديدار  ميگردم

خدايا  رحم  کن  بر  من  پريشان وار  می  گردم
خطا کارم  گناھگارم  به  حال زار  می  گردم

شراب شوق  می نوشم  به  گرد يار  می  گردم
سخن مستانه  می گويم  ولے  هوشيار  می  گردم

گھےخندم  گھے گريم گھے افتم  گھے خيزم
مسيحا  در دلم  پيدا  و  من  بيمار  می گردم

بیا جانا  عنایت  کن  تو  مولانای رومی  را
غلام  شمس  تبریزم  قلندروار  می گردم

Pakistan’s legendary artist, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, rendered this “Rumiesque”(1) Ghazal in his inimitable style of qawwaali, above.  Here is an attempt at translation:

 

Not frivolously, around the alleys and bazaars, I whirl.
Lover’s temperament, I have — to have one glimpse of my Beloved, I whirl.

O, God!  Have mercy on me!  Distracted, I whirl.
I am guilty, I am sinful: in this wretched state, I whirl.

Desire’s wine I imbibe; around the Friend, I whirl.
Intoxicated speech, I utter, even while soberly, I whirl.

Sometimes I laugh, weep sometimes; sometimes I fall, rise sometimes.
Messiah, in my heart, I bear; and I, the infirm, whirl.

Come, O Beloved!  Indulge Maulana Rumi!
Shams Tabrizi’s slave I am; like a qalandar, I whirl.

(1) As pointed out by Maziar in the comment below, this cannot be Maulana’s Ghazal because the Maulana never really used the taKhallas “Rumi”… Instead he used to sign off as “Shams” (after Hazrat Shams Tabrīzī) or “Khāmūsh (the Silent One). However, it is a Sufiyāna Ghazal, perhaps from the South Asian subcontinent, very much consistent with the Beloved Maulana’s oeuvre, and thus its popularity amongst South Asian qawwāls today.