Persian · noun phrase, masculine · The Tavern & the Cup

Jaam-e-jam

जाम-ए-जम

said jaam-e-jam

also written: Jaam-e-Jamshed

Meaning

The legendary cup of the ancient Persian king Jamshed, said to reveal the whole world; a symbol of all-seeing knowledge and mystic vision.

Literally: the cup of Jam (Jamshed)

How Iqbal uses it

The world-revealing cup of Jamshed becomes, in mystical verse, an emblem of the heart that mirrors all reality. Iqbal draws on it to suggest that true vision lies within the illumined self, not in any outward vessel.

See it in the verse

Jaam-e-jam in Iqbal’s couplets

Utha na sheesha-garaan-e-firang ke ehsaan
Safaal-e-Hind se mina-o-jaam paida kar

Do not be indebted to the glassmakers of the foreign land — fashion your goblet and cup from the clay of your own soil.

Selfhood · Freedom · Action

Related words

PERSIAN

Jaam

A wine-cup or goblet; the vessel that holds the wine of divine love.

PERSIAN

Saaghar

A large wine-cup or goblet; a classic vessel of the tavern symbolism.

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