Arabic · noun/adjective · The Tavern & the Cup
Saaf
साफ़
said saaf
also written: Saaf-e-mai
Meaning
Clear, pure, clarified; of wine, the limpid draught drawn off from the dregs, the pure top of the cup (contrasted with durd, the lees).
Literally: clear, pure
How Iqbal uses it
The clear wine, opposed to the dregs, marks the refined draught reserved by some for the favoured. The ghazal often sets the proud who claim the saaf against the humble who accept the durd, a contrast Iqbal's egalitarian sympathies invert.
See it in the verse
Saaf 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
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
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.
PERSIAN
Mai-e-naab
Pure, unmixed wine; the unadulterated draught of mystical love.