Thursday, March 2, 2017

Not a Moment to Waste

آکہ نہ ای کہ در چہ نفس سود عمر تست
از ہر نفس اگر نہ عیاری گرفتہ ای
نظیری نیشابوری

aageh ne-i ke dar che nafas sood-e omr-e tost
az har nafas agar na ayaaree girefte-i

Naziri Nishaburi

You know not in which moment your life's fulfillment lies if you do not draw value from every one of your moments.

Naziri, who came to India from Iran as a young poet, became a protege of the erudite poet and scholar, Mirza Abdur Rahim Khan-e Khanan, son of Bairam Khan and one of Akbar the Great, closest companions. A master jeweler by craft, Naziri settled down in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and became quite prosperous. A Shi'i Muslim by faith, it is reported the he was quite strict in religious observance and professed a dry orthodoxy (khoshki mi-varzeed). Nevertheless, his poetry, far from being dry or dull, represents the highest pinnacle of wit, insight, eloquence, and beauty in the entire tradition of the Indian branch of Persian poetry (sabk-e hindi)

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