Arabic · adjective · Qualities & Descriptions
Saaf
साफ़
said saaf
also written: saf, saaf-e-mai
Meaning
Clean, clear; pure; also plain, evident.
Literally: the clear wine; the strained, pure part
How Iqbal uses it
Saaf is the clear, settled wine above the lees — the bright draught poured for the favoured, opposite to the cloudy durd. In the wine-imagery it figures grace in its limpid, unclouded form, the choicest pour. Poets weigh saaf against durd to ask whether the seeker craves the cream of love or will drink even its dregs with gratitude.
See it in the verse
Saaf in Iqbal’s couplets
Main shakh-e-taak hun meri ghazal hai mera samar
Mire samar se mai-e-laala-faam paida kar
Mire samar se mai-e-laala-faam paida kar
I am the vine-branch; my ghazal is my fruit — from my fruit, press out the rose-red wine.
Aspiration · Action · Youth
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
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
Related words
PERSIAN
Durd
The dregs or lees at the bottom of the wine-cup; in mystic humility, the very draught the lowly lover treasures.
PERSIAN
Mai-e-naab
Pure, unmixed wine; the unadulterated draught of mystical love.
PERSIAN
Tah-e-jaam
The bottom of the cup; the last dregs left in the goblet, often a figure for the end of the feast or the lover's final share.