Sufi masters say spiritual states and stations cannot be described in words. To describe the indescribable, sufi masters use symbols which allude to those concepts.
By employing the language of intoxication, Sufi poets create a relatable framework for readers who may not have encountered divine love directly. This metaphor allows them to explore the ecstatic and liberating aspects of spirituality in a way that resonates with the common human experience
— Dr. Alireza Nurbakhsh
Sufi symbols across cultures may share similarities, but there are also differences. Symbolism used by African sufi masters may not be the same as those used by South Asian sufi masters. For example, drunkenness and alcohol are two symbols commonly used across cultures to describe spiritual intoxication, whereas Tavern of Ruin is a symbol unique to Persian sufi poetry.
Due to the popularity of Rumi, the dominant sufi poetry around the world is written in Persian (Farsi), which utilizes some unique Persian and Zoroastrian terms to describe spiritual concepts.
The number of symbols employed by sufi masters is extensive. Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh wrote a 16 volume set of books called Sufi Symbolism which covered the topic in detail. These books are no longer in print, but Amazon and other outlets may still have a few individual volumes, new and used, available.
Dr. Alireza Nurbakhsh has a particularly beautiful symbolic poem, Silence of the Mind, which may be more accessible to a modern audience. In this poem he does not use any traditional Persian symbolism. Instead, he uses the metaphor of a horse’s mind to describe the spiritual state of Unity (Fana) where the ego (nafs) no longer exists.
Below is a discourse by Dr. Alireza Nurbakhsh about sufi symbolism, and a very short set of some common symbols employed in Persian sufi poetry.
The Tavern of Ruin
The term Tavern of Ruin originally referred to old Persian building ruins where people would gather in secret to become intoxicated with wine.
In Sufi symbolism, the term Tavern of Ruin is used by Persian Sufi masters to describe the spiritual state of those who have overcome their ego / nafs and entered into the realm of Unity (Fana). In that state, those people are said to be spiritually intoxicated by The Beloved (God).
Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, the previous Master of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order, wrote two poems specifically about The Tavern of Ruin:
The Cupbearer (Saki or Saaqi)
The cupbearer or saki signifies the spiritual beloved as well as the master of the path of love who pours out the wine of love to his lovers.
Saki, again your favour is plain
I pray that your cup be forever brimful,
Since by your guidance the time of hangover has passed.
— Hafez
The Braids or Locks (Gisu)
The Braids or Locks signify the lover’s path of seeking to reach the beloved which is full of difficulties and challenges.
It was the fault of your bewitching eyes and your heart-ravishing neck,
That I fled from people like a wild deer.
— Hafez
The Neck (Gardan)
The Neck signifies the beloved’s unveiling of her divine attributes in order to entice the lover on the path of love.
It was the fault of your bewitching eyes and your heart-ravishing neck, That I fled from people like a wild deer.
— Hafez
The Waist (Kamar)
The Waist signifies the beloved’s wisdom which the lover has no understanding of and therefore the lover perceives the beloved’s actions at times as cruel.
Your words revealed your mouth’s mysteries
And your waist manifests your inner secrets
What of this blade bared at the waist thrust upon me?
— Hafez
The Figure (Qamat)
The Figure signifies the beloved’s unmatched beauty in the eyes of her lover which creates in the lover the quality of constant worshipping of the beloved.
You and the ‘Tuba tree’ of paradise,
I and the figure of the beloved,
The suit of every man’s ideas
Is tailored to his aspiration.
— Hafez
The Hair (Mu’i)
The Hair signifies the manifestation of the inner world of the beloved which helps the lover to focus on the beloved and to attain the unity of attention.
Everywhere we go the image of your countenance accompanies us
To comfort us on every road,
The fragrance-laden breeze of your hair
Is the unifying principle of our awakened soul
— Hafez
The Goblet (Saghar)
The Goblet signifies the lover’s heart in which he witnesses the beloved’s beauty coming from the unseen world.
If the world’s sorrow attempts to put an end to my existence
Nothing will rescue me other than the goblet.
— Hafez
The Cup or Grail (Jam)
The Cup signifies the lover’s heart at the moment when it reflects the beloved and the lover ‘perceives’ that the entire world and the beloved are one and the same.
All these parodied images of wine
And painted fancies of loves and lovers
Are but one glimpse of the Saki’s
Visage flashed down in the cup’s depth
— Hafez
The Wine-Cup (Paimana)
The Wine-Cup signifies the lover’s heart at the time of complete surrender to the beloved. At this moment the lover begins to comprehend the spiritual meanings of the beloved’s words.
Whatever was poured in our cup,
we drank
Whether the wine of paradise
Or the strong drink of drunkenness.
— Hafez
The Wine-Jar (Qadah)
The wine-jar signifies the eternal now or the moment the lover witnesses the beloved in his heart.
Serve up, O Saki, the mirror-bright wine-jar
For the days are fled and the heart has yet to view the true face of its design
— Hafez
The Wine-Vat (Khom)
The Wine-Vat signifies the state of concentration of the lover on the beloved in order to comprehend her subtle teachings.
What can I do, no other way exists
If I desire to drink only wine filtered straight from the vat —
I must listen to the words of the Magian Master.
— Hafez
The Wine-Glass (Mina)
The wine-glass signifies the go-between carrying messages between the lover and the beloved at the time of the lover’s despair caused by separation.
Only that crystal glass of wine can rebuff the sorrow within constricted hearts,
Let it not leave your hand lest the flood of despair wash
— Hafez
The Beaker (Piyala)
The Beaker signifies anything in the world in which the lover can behold the beloved thereby becoming forgetful of the self.
I see the image of the beloved’s face in the beaker
O you who fail to see the pleasures that wine can bring to the soul.
— Hafez
The Chalice (Ka’s or Ka’seh)
The chalice signifies the face of the beloved contemplated by the lover in order to attain the state of intoxication in a joyous moment.
Come, O Saki! Serve up a chalice, hand it round
For love seemed simple at the start,
But became embroiled in difficulties.
— Hafez
The Ewer, Pitcher (Sabu)
The pitcher signifies the lover’s state of identification with his own ego which distracts him from the beloved.
That wine which in the pitcher seduced the Sufi’s heart,
When, O Saki, will its sparkle be ravishing in a cup?
— Hafez
The Flagon (Qaraba)
The flagon signifies the beloved’s qualities of beauty and majesty that are revealed to the lover gradually.
In the reign of his Majesty, the forgiver of vices, the pardoner of sins,
Hafez became the bearer of the flagon and the magistrate, drinker of the beaker.
— Hafez
The Sip (Jor‘a)
The sip signifies the beloved’s spiritual nourishment of the lover which causes the latter to be in the state of ecstasy.
Whoever has drunk one sip
From the friend’s cup in the pre-eternity like me,
Shall never lift his head from the drunken stupor until
the dawn of judgment’s day.
— Hafez
Wine (Mai)
The wine signifies the state of spiritual awareness in the lover which is caused by remembrance of the beloved and ultimately this awareness results in the lover’s intoxication and the state of love of all beings.
Build up the heart with wine, for this wasted world
Is intent on fashioning bricks from our dust.
— Hafez
Clear Wine (Mai-ye safi)
This expression signifies the beloved’s image which cleanses the mirror of the lover’s heart of all egotistical qualities.
Never once, by grace and love of the master wine-seller
Has my goblet gone dry of clear and illuminating wine.
— Hafez
Ruby Wine (Mai-ye la‘l)
Ruby wine signifies the beloved’s message to the lover that love is the only path capable of harnessing the destructive intellect.
Take this crude wisdom
To the tavern
So that the ruby wine
May bring its blood to a boil.
— Hafez
Clear Wine (Bada-ye safi)
Clear wine signifies a love which is pure from blemishes of imperfection and independent of both the joy of union and the torment of separation.
The wine has became clear and is now ready for drinking
The birds upon the green are intoxicated
It is the lover’s season and
We can finally do the right thing.
— Hafez
Red Wine (Sahba)
Red wine signifies the eternal covenant of love between the lover and the beloved.
For years my books were in pawn to red wine
My teachings and prayers resulted in the thriving of the tavern.
— Hafez
Drink (Modam)
Drink signifies the lover’s innate and intrinsic capacity to love and to reflect the beloved’s qualities within oneself.
Reflected within the beaker’s ring
I see the glow of my love’s face
O you unaware of the pleasures that drink alone can bring.
— Hafez
Strong Drink (Khamr)
This term signifies love which overwhelms the lover’s heart and the effect of which causes the lover to be disgraced among those who think of him as a man of reason.
Whatever was poured in our cup, we drank up,
Whether the wine of paradise
Or the strong drink of drunkenness.
— Hafez
Bitter Wine (Sharab-e talkh)
Bitter wine signifies the overpowering love which strips away the lover’s illusion of self and self-identity.
Bitter wine I want, potent enough to cast down men
So I may rest in peace, one breath, at least from this world and its hustle and bustle.
— Hafez
The Morning Wine (Sabuhi)
The morning wine signifies the first conversation between the lover and the beloved on the occasion of their first encounter.
By the purity of the hearts of rendan drunk by the morning wine,
So many closed doors will be opened through their supplications
— Hafez
The Dregs and the Claret (Dord-o saaf)
The dregs and the claret signify the juxtaposition of the beloved’s wrath with her grace, her rebuke versus her favour, her torment versus her love. A true lover will accept both the dregs and the claret from his beloved equally with no preference.
Drink up happily as you have no say on the dregs and the claret
That you are receiving from the Saki, whose actions are out of pure benevolence.
— Hafez
The Dreg-Drinker (Dordi kesh)
The dreg-drinker signifies a lover who is too preoccupied with his beloved to attend to his personal sufferings, enduring to live in complete harmony and love of his beloved.
How sweet the master of the tavern spoke to the dreg-drinkers intimate with him:
“Never let immature souls know the condition of hearts scorched by love’s grief.”
— Hafez
The Wine-Seller (Baade-forush or Mai-forush)
The wine-seller signifies the beloved in her capacity as the spiritual guide who gives the wine of selflessness to her lovers in exchange for their commitments to the path of love.
If the wine-seller takes good care of the needs of the rogues
God will forgive sins and avert all calamities
— Hafez