Persian · noun, masculine · The Tavern & the Cup
Saaqi-naama
साक़ी-नामा
said saa-qee-naa-ma
also written: Saqi-Nama, saqi-nama, saaqi naameh
Meaning
A 'Book of the Cup-bearer'; a poetic genre addressed to the saqi, calling for wine and reflecting on life, fate, and the spirit.
Literally: letter/book of the cup-bearer
How Iqbal uses it
The saqi-nama is a classical genre in which the poet repeatedly addresses the cup-bearer, asking for wine — a frame for meditations on time, fortune, mortality and the soul's thirst for the Divine. Each call for the cup carries the longing of the seeker for grace. Iqbal's own Saqi Nama is among his most famous poems: he asks the saqi not for a wine of forgetfulness but for one that quickens the blood of a nation, fuses love with action, and stirs the self to remake the world.
See it in the verse
Saaqi-naama in Iqbal’s couplets
Nahin hai naumeed Iqbal apni kisht-e-veeran se
Zara nam ho to ye mitti badi zarkhez hai saqi
Zara nam ho to ye mitti badi zarkhez hai saqi
Iqbal is not without hope, even from his barren field — let there be a little moisture, cupbearer, and this soil is wonderfully fertile.
Hope · Aspiration
Bohat dekhe hain main ne mashriq-o-maghrib ke maikhane
Yahan saqi nahin paida wahan be-zauq hai sahba
Yahan saqi nahin paida wahan be-zauq hai sahba
I have seen many a wine-house in both East and West: here no cup-bearer worth the name, there a wine with no savour at all.
Awakening · Self-Knowledge
Bahut dekhe hain maine mashriq-o-maghrib ke maikhane
Yahan saaqi nahin paida, wahan be-zauq hai sahba
Yahan saaqi nahin paida, wahan be-zauq hai sahba
I have seen many a tavern of the East and the West — here no cup-bearer is born, and there the wine itself is without relish.
Awakening · Self-Knowledge
Nasha pila ke girana to sab ko aata hai
Maza to jab hai ki girton ko thaam le saqi
Maza to jab hai ki girton ko thaam le saqi
Anyone can pour the wine and let people fall — the real worth is when the cup-bearer catches those who are falling.
Leadership · Humility · Action
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
Faqir-e-rah ko bakhshe gae asrar-e-sultani
Baha meri nava ki daulat-e-parvez hai saqi
Baha meri nava ki daulat-e-parvez hai saqi
To the wayfaring beggar were granted the secrets of kingship; the price of my song is the whole treasure of Parvez.
Self-Knowledge · Humility · Selfhood
Related words