Persian · noun · The Tavern & the Cup

Kharaabaat

ख़राबात
said kha-raa-BAAT
also written: kharabat, kharaabat
Meaning

The tavern quarter, the ruined haunt of drunkards; in Sufi verse the station of ecstatic self-loss.

Literally: the tavern-quarter; ruins where taverns stood

Usage & notes

Kharaabaat names the tavern-district — literally the 'ruins', the disreputable edge of town where the wine-houses cluster — and in Sufi verse it becomes the cherished precinct of the lovers of God, the holy ground beyond respectability. To be a pir-e-kharabat (master of the tavern-ruins) is to be a true spiritual guide who teaches by love, not law. The very word fuses ruin and grace: it is in the wreck of the proud ego that the wine of love is poured.