Rumi: The Messiah is within my heart and like an invalid, I roam

Rumi

A poem of Mawlana Rumi, “Nah man beehodeh gerde koocheh.” If you would like to hear this song sung in the Sufi ecstatic style, here is a link to a rendering by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. The accent is definitely that of Pakistani Urdu, but the singing is all in the original Persian (Farsi), the language of all of Rumi’s poems.

The traslation/transliteration below is not mine, and includes the last two lines of the section, which are not included in the calligraphy version shown here.

Calligraphy by Stewart J. Thomas, www.palmstone.com

Naman behuda girde koocha o bazaar mi gardam,

Neither foolishly nor frivolously, in the lane and the market, I roam

Mazak-e-ashqui daram pa e didar mi gardam,

Possessed by the temperament of the lover I am, to have a glimpse, I roam

Khudaya reham kun bar mann pareeshaan waar mi gardam

O, God, the Almighty! Shower Your mercy upon me, disturbed and distracted, I roam

Khataa kaaram gunah gaaram bahaal e zaar mi gardam,

I am guilty, I am sinful and in this wretched condition, I roam

Sharaab-e-shouq mi nousham bagird e yaar mi gardam,

The wine of fondness I drink and round the Friend, I roam

Sukhan mastana mi goyam bhale hushyaar mi gardam,

Like the intoxicated I talk, but like the wise, I roam

Gahe khandam gahe giriyam gahe uftam gahe khezam,

Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I weep, sometimes I fall, sometimes I rise

Maseeha dar dilam paida ho mann beemaar mi gardam,

The Messiah is within my heart and like an invalid, I roam

Bayaan jaanan inayat kun to molana-e-rumi ra,

Come, O My Beloved! Come! Help your Maulana Rum

iGhulam-e-shams tabrezam qalandar war mi gardam

I am a slave of Shams Tabrizi and like a qalandar, I roam

(Translation from http://kalam-e-rumi.blogspot.com/)