「墓標都市」　装画

Found the origin (source?) of the bottom image

This poem by the Persian Sufi Poet Abū Saʿīd Abū'l-Khayr or Abusa'id Abolkhayr

(Persian: ابوسعید ابوالخیر)  (December 7, 967 - January 12, 1049)

is inscribed on the tomb of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī

and is often incorrectly attributed to him.

باز‌ آ باز‌ آ، هر آن چه هستی باز‌ آ

گر کافر و گبر و بت‌پرستی باز‌ آ

این درگهِ ما، درگهِ نومیدی نیست

صد بار اگر توبه شکستی باز‌ آ

___________

Transliteration:

bāz ā bāz ā, har ān keh hastee bāz ā

gar kāfer o gabr o bot parastee bāz ā

een dargeh-ye mā, dargeh-ye nomeedee neest

sad bār agar tobeh shekastee bāz-ā

___________

I provide three translations. The first, by Barks, is the most famous rendering into English. Barks captures the simplicity of the sentiment. Gamart more accurately translates the verse. My own version is meant to be literal, rather than poetic. None of the English translations capture the repugnance that  the words infidel, heretic, pagan, unbeliever or idolater carry in the original. Please read the note for further insight into this poem.

___________

Translation by Coleman Barks:

Come, come, whoever you are.

Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.

___________

Translation by Sidi Ibrahim Gamart:

Come again, please, come again, Whoever you are. Religious, infidel, heretic or pagan. Even if you promised a hundred times And a hundred times you broke your promise, This door is not the door Of hopelessness and frustration. This door is open for everybody. Come, come as you are.

___________

My own more literal translation:

Come, come, whoever you are, come again

Be you faithless, unbeliever or idolater, come again

This doorway of ours, it is not the entry to despair

If you’ve broken your repentance a hundred times, come again.

___________

Notes:

bāz ā = come again; welcome (bāz  means both “again” and “open”; both meanings are relevant here)

kāfer = usually translated as infidel, the basic meaning of the word in Arabic (kufr) is someone who is ungrateful [for God’s blessings], or who has no faith; by extension, someone who does not believe in the tenants of Islam, who is a pagan, non-believer, or member of a non-Muslim religion. It is commonly used as a pejorative term.

gebr or gabr = the word originally referred to someone who was a Zoroastrian but came to have a pejorative meaning referring to any non-Muslim, or sometimes to any unbeliever The word continues to be used as a slur against Christians in some former areas of the Ottoman Empire.

Bot parasti = idol worshiper (again, a pejorative term)

All three of the phrases used have the sting of extremely insulting, pejorative terms. All three place the person being referred to as the most outcast or outside categories in Islamic society. To say they are welcome is to go against all expectations.

* Note that the word Dargah has many meanings, several of which are indicated directly in this line: portal, door, threshold, the site of the saint’s tomb. The royal court (dargah) was also where the king dispensed legal rulings and justice, which also plays into the poem: no matter how many transgressions you have made, this is not the place for having no hope. Baz A, means, come, come again, welcome.

* درگاه (درگهِ) dargāh (dar=door; gāh or gah=place): Portal, door; location of the door [into a house or building]; threshold; a royal court, a palace; a mosque; shrine or tomb (of some reputed saint}; place of pilgrimage.

** nomidi: no hope (na=no; omid=hope)

tobeh (Arabic “tawbeh”) = repentance. In Islam repentance is an individual matter between an individual and the Divine. By using this word the poet transfers the point of view from society’s vantage point (someone who is outside the fold of society), to the personal (what is my relationship to the Divine).

Persian (Farsi) Calligraphy by S J Thomas  www.palmstone.com

The Machine

great films available on the internet archive part two

first post + the archive collection with all of them

la haine (1995) dir. mathieu kassovitz

carnival of souls (1962) dir. herk harvey

andrei tarkovsky's filmography

a nightmare on elm st. (1984) dir wes craven

possession (1981) dir. andrzej źuławski

the silence of the lambs (1991) dir. jonathan demme

safe (1995) dir. todd haynes

psycho (1960) dir. alfred hitchcock

cops (1922) dir. buster keaton

sherlock jr (1924) dir. buster keaton

when harry met sally... (1989) dir. rob rainer

the bride of frankenstein (1935) dir. james whale

man with a movie camera (1927) dir. dziga vertov

coffee and cigarettes (2003) dir. jim jarmusch

m (1931) dir. fritz lang

it happened one night (1934) dir. frank capra

casablanca (1942) dir. michael curtiz

purple noon (1960) dir. rene clement

carrie (1976) dir. brian de palma

eraserhead (1977) dir. david lynch

they live (1988) dir. john carpenter

female trouble (1974) dir. john waters

do the right thing (1989) dir. spike lee

wings (1927) dir. william a wellman

fallen angels (1995) dir. wong kar wai

velvet goldmine (1998) dir. todd haynes

black panthers (1968) dir. agnes varda

american psycho (2000) dir. mary harron

the manchurian candidate (1962) dir. john frankenheimer

girlfriends (1978) dir. claudia weill

more to come ♡ glad you all like movies.

Solaris (1972), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

French, Spanish : I call myself: me llamo, je m'appelle; self-determined identity

Russian: they call me: меня зовут; other-determined identity

English: my name is: an inchoate hell where even the most basic causal links are veiled, if not absent entirely

Penguin beach. Elementary Science Readers: First Book. 1927.

Internet Archive

a solid visual representation of me in a bookstore

'Witches dancing around fire' by Julia Sidorenko.