Number 3

RubāʿīIraqi style
English

Number 3

The men are all lost in ecstasy, yet the reed pipe cannot be seen; the drunkards are all in plain sight, yet the wine cannot be seen. A hundred caravans have passed down this road before, and the strange thing is that not a single trace of them can be seen.
Explanation: 'Sama' refers to the Sufi spiritual dance and music. The poem plays on the paradox that the visible signs (dancing, drunkenness) appear, but their hidden cause (music, wine, the divine) stays unseen.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۳

مردان همه در سماع و نی پیدا نیست مستان همه ظاهرند و می پیدا نیست
صد قافله پیشتر درین ره رفتند وین طرفه که هیچگونه‌ای پیدا نیست