che tadbir ey mosalmanan ke man khod ra nemidanam

hi
in third verse of this poem we have: "na az kounam na az kanam". could somebody explain me the meaning of "kan" in this verse? how can we understand this "kan" here?
thank you

Hi,

It's really complicated! like all other poems of Rumi.

The words are originally Arabic, /Kan/ is simple past, means existed, /kun/ is simple present, means exists (for a long time, maybe forever).

In Arabic the expression /La kan va La ya kun/ means something that never existed, 'nothing', here I think Rumi translates it to Persian, so the whole verse means I'm nothing!
Literally the expression /Kun va Makan/ means the universe, then here Rumi mixes the two words /kun/ and /kan/ to form the expression as well! to say I'm not from the /Kun va Makan/!

/kan/ in pure Persian means mineral things, like ores, so it's something from the earth (universe), on which every thing were 'created' by the creator, the God.
/kun/ means things that exists and will last forever (and in Sufism world these are related to the heavens). So another meaning can be: Nor am I confined to Creation, nor the Throne Celestial

You can find three English translations here: http://www.iranian.com/main/node/98489


This is what I understand, if you want an exact meaning, you should talk to a professor of Persian literature. Although I really respect the Nicholson and Barks, I think the translation of Shahriari is better.

thank you so much for your explanation. it was helpful for me

hi
i have one question more about this ghazal. i know that it is famous one, but i can not find it in edition of divan i have in my home. i have the good edition of mr. toufigh sobhani, but there is not this poem. i know that the best edition of the divan is the one of mr. furuzanfar, but i do not have access to it. i was looking for this poem in dorj 3 and in persopedia, but without success. i need the location of this poem (edition, editor, page, year and place of edition). can somebody help me? i will be grateful.
thank you