1904.] Bilgrami— Quatrains of Baba Tahir. 19 
3. With thy perfume I should gain life after death, 
4. If haply thou should pass over my grave (earth). 
Saadi has expressed the same idea in his Taiyibat , where 
he says:— 
pxvj p&e ^ iSXi- 
“ Should the perfume of the beloved pass over the earth of the 
lovers, 
“ What wonder that from its effects the rotten bones may come to 
life.” 
Or, compare the couplet of Hafiz :— 
“ Should thy perfume blow over the earth even after a hundred 
years, 
“ The rotten bones will come out of the winding sheet dancing.” 
Note the word play on in connection with as the word j*|A/o 
means “ ever,” “ always,” as well as “ wine.” 
56 . 
This Quatrain is not Baba Tahir’s, nor is its metre the same as 
that used by the Baba. The word Kirman has another meaning, besides 
the two quoted by Mr. Allen. It means “ grapes; ” hence the origin 
of the name of Kirmanshahan where a thousand grape-vines were 
planted, and several kings had assembled round the throne of Khusrau 
Farviz who exclaimed the words Kirman (grapes) and Shahan (kings), 
which became the name of the place where this grand assembly had 
been held (vide Farhang-i-Anjuman-Ara-i-Nasiri, under the word Kir¬ 
manshahan.') The allusion to eating in the two expressions cibojS' is 
more appropriate in regard to grapes than conquering Kirman , though 
the word a play ” has been very cleverly introduced here. The meaning 
is, that “ the king who in the fulness of his power was eating grapes, 
to-day the worms are devouring him,” or in Saadi’s lines, “ I had set 
my heart to eat grapes, when suddenly the worms devoured me.” 
57. 
1. Dark is my lot, Oh that my lot may be topsy-turvy; 
2. Ruined is my fortune, Oh that my fortune may be overturned ; 
3. I have become a thorn and a thistle of the lane of Love 
4. By the doings of my heart; O Lord ! that it may be drowned 
in blood. 
In these lines it will be observed that the poet-curses his lot, his 
fortune and his own heart. 
