Persian · adjective · The Tavern & the Cup
Mai-gun
मय-गूँ
said mai-GOON
also written: Mai-goon
Meaning
Wine-coloured; of the ruddy hue of red wine.
Literally: wine-coloured
How Iqbal uses it
The beloved's lips and the flushed cheek are described as mai-gun, collapsing the distance between the tavern and the face.
See it in the verse
Mai-gun in Iqbal’s couplets
Kya dabdaba-e-nadir kya shaukat-e-taimuri
Ho jaate hain sab daftar gharq-e-mai-e-naab aakhir
Ho jaate hain sab daftar gharq-e-mai-e-naab aakhir
What of Nadir's dread power, what of Timur's splendour? In the end every such record is drowned in the pure wine of time.
Humility · Self-Knowledge · Adversity
Digar-gun hai jahan taron ki gardish tez hai saqi
Dil-e-har-zarra mein ghaugha-e-rusta-khez hai saqi
Dil-e-har-zarra mein ghaugha-e-rusta-khez hai saqi
The world is changing, the wheeling of the stars is swift; in the heart of every atom there is the tumult of a rising.
Awakening · Hope · Restlessness
Main shakh-e-tak hun meri ghazal hai mera samar
Mere samar se mai-e-lala-fam paida kar
Mere samar se mai-e-lala-fam paida kar
I am a branch of the vine, my song is my fruit; from that fruit press out the tulip-red wine.
Action · Aspiration · Youth
Hayat kya hai khayal o nazar ki majzubi
Khudi ki maut hai andesha-ha-e-guna-gun
Khudi ki maut hai andesha-ha-e-guna-gun
What is life? The absorbed focus of thought and vision; and scattered, many-coloured doubts are the death of selfhood.
Selfhood · Action · Self-Knowledge