“The Spinning of the Mill Lightens My Soul”1

PERSICA XVII, 2001

“THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL”1

Asghar Seyed-Gohrab Leiden University

Introduction

Within a more than four centuries old relationship between Dutch and Persian culture, there are a wide range of subjects luring the researcher to launch an investigation.2 One may, for instance, choose to examine the Persian names of flowers in Dutch, or to linger on Rembrandt’s interest in the Persian miniature painting, or to study the 17th century translation of Sa‘di’s (d. 1292) Bustan in Dutch and so on and so forth.3 As a native Per- sian living in the country of tulips, clogs and mills, I have chosen to study the mill in Persian literature. In recent years I have been more and more fascinated by the mills in the foggy, flat and green Dutch landscape, while being constantly reminded of the wide- spread literary metaphors, popular beliefs, riddles, proverbs and folksongs based on this ancient invention of mankind in Persian literature. It should be, however, stated at the outset that although I deal briefly with the relationship between ancient Persian windmills and their Western counterparts, this essay does not pretend to peruse the link between these windmills; the study is an attempt to demonstrate how the mill, whether a windmill, watermill or handmill, is presented in Persian literary sources as well as in popular expressions. Moreover, a study of the mill at literary level is conductive; especially since in molinological literature, Persian literary sources are usually neglected. It is generally believed that the Persians played a major role in the invention, the development and the spread of the mill. Discussing the technology of the Iranians during the Sasanian era (224-642), Otto Kurz makes a number of suggestions about the origin of the mill. Kurz writes: “the invention of the waterwheel, the water-mill and the windmill were probably or certainly made in Iran.”4 Some lines further down, Kurz adds: “There

1 This article was written at Leiden University with the financial support of the Netherlands Organisa- tion for Scientific Research (NWO). 2 For a study on the contacts between Iran and the Netherlands see M.A.P. Meilink-Roelofsz, “The Earliest Relations between Persia and the Netherlands” in Persica, No. VI, 1972-74, pp. 1-50; also see W.M. Floor, Commercial conflict between Persia and the Netherlands 1712-1718, Durham: 1988. 3 For a reference to this translation by Daniël Havart see Saadi, De Rozentuin, Trans. J.T.P. de Bruijn, Amsterdam/Leuven: Bulaaq, 1997, p. 235. 4 See The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983, vol. 3 (1), p. 563. Also see Michael Harverson, “Watermills in Iran” in Iran, Vol. XXXI, 1993, pp. 149-7; for a brief overall view of different types of mills used in Persia consult Hans E. Wulff, The Tra- ditional Crafts of Persia: Their Development, Technology and Influence on Eastern and Western Civiliza- tions, London: The M.I.I. Press, 1966, pp. 277-89. 108 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB can be no doubt that the windmill is a Persian invention, but it reached the western world only in the late Middle Ages.” As regards the invention and the spread of the windmills, scholars have different opinions. Michael J.T. Lewis holds that the Byzantine Empire played an important intermediary role for the spread of the Eastern windmill to the West.5 There are also other theories suggesting that the Persian horizontal windmills were intro- duced to Western Europe through Moorish Spain, or by the “Italian maritime republics that transported the Crusaders, or the log-cabin settlements of Russia.”6 In his extensive studies of the Persian horizontal windmills, Harverson concludes: “nobody knows,” no concrete thing can be said about the relationship between the Persian and the West Euro- pean windmills. References to the mill as a metaphor for a reality abound in Persian and they even occur in pre-Islamic Iranian literatures. Kurz makes a passing reference to the Manichaeans, who used the rotation of a na‘ura, ‘windwheel’ as a metaphor to describe the journey of the soul towards the sun.7 According to Harverson, in 336/947 Mas‘udi (d.345/965) made the first known reference to windmills anywhere in the world when he referred to the Persian slave, Abu Lo‘lo‘a, who assassinated the second caliph ‘Omar b. al-Xattab (d.644).8 Another historical reference is the death of the Sasanian king Yazdgerd III who took refuge in a mill but was stabbed to death by a miller at Marv in 651 A.D. when he was fleeing from the Arab invaders.9 Enumerating the excellence of Sistan, the author of Tarix-e Sistan (written 5th/11th century) boasts of its windmills: “Wheel-mills are made here that run by the wind, and make flour, whereas in other towns a quadruped is needed, or a water-mill or hand-mill.”10 The occurrence of the windmill in this part of Persia is, of course, mainly due to the famous ‘Wind of 120 Days’ (bad-e sad- o bist ruz), also called ‘the Ox-killing Wind’ (bad-e kosta gav), which blows from mid- May to mid-October.11 It is also worth mentioning that during the Sasanian era, the prov- ince of Sistan attained considerable prosperity with regard to agriculture. This aspect may also have played a role in the development of the windmill. The mills of Sistan were famous and there are several references to this device in medieval literature.

5 M.J.T. Lewis, “The Greek and the Early windmill” in History of Technology, Vol. 15, 1993, pp. 141-189. 6 M. Harverson, Persian Windmills, Sprang Capelle: The International Molinological Society, Dutch Section, 1991, p. 10; also compare J.C. Notebaart, Windmühlen der Stand der Forschung über das Vorkommen und den Ursprung, Den Haag: Mouton Verlag, 1972, pp. 209-15, 225-27; Sven B. E.k., “Hori- zontal Mills” in Transactions of the First International Symposium of Molinology, Portugal: Bibliotheca Molinologica, 1965; Dietrich Lohrmann, “Von der oestlichen zur westlichen Windmuehle: Beitrag zu einer ungeloeste Frage” in Archiv fuer Kulturgeschichte, Berlin: 77, (1995), pp. 1-30. 7 The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983, Vol. 3 (1), p. 563. 8 See M. Harverson in Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. Asia; idem, Persian Windmills, p. 11; Ch. Pellat in Encycl. Iranica, s.v. Abu Lo‘lo‘a; also compare D. Waines in Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. Tahun. 9 For an account of this event see ‘A.H. Zarrinkub, Tarix-e mardom-e Iran az payan-e Sasaneyan ta payan-e al-e Buya, Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1368/1989, p. 13; also see H. Ritter, Das Meer der Seele: Mensch, Welt und Gott in den Geschiten des Fariduddin ‘Attar, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1955, p. 110. 10 Tarix-e Sistan: baz-xani-ye motun, ed. J. Modarres Sadeqi, Tehran: Markaz, 1373/1994, p. 6. 11 For more information see The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. W.B. Fisher, Vol. I, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968, p. 80; also see Harverson, Persian Windmills, pp. 3-4; ‘A.H. Nayyernuri, Sahm-e arzesmand-e Iranian dar farhang-e jahan, vol. I, Tehran: Anjoman-e asar va mafaxerat-e farhangi, 1375/1996, p. 121. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 109

Analogy between the spinning of the mill and walking around the Ka‘ba

The spinning of the mill is sometimes compared to the pilgrim’s ‘circumambulation’ (tavaf) of the Ka‘ba, the cubic House of God situated in the city of Mecca. Persian mystics were usually against the outward worship of the Ka‘ba and made a sharp distinction between ‘the Ka‘ba of the heart’ (ka‘ba-ye del) and ‘the Ka‘ba of the clay’ (ka‘ba-ye gel). They praised the former and severely censured the latter. As the following couplet ex- presses, this distinction has become proverbial: “Without the drunken manifestation of the Beloved, the Ka‘ba and the temple of idols are mills without water.”12 The phrase ‘a mill without water’ refers to a ruined place and by analogy, the Ka‘ba without the Be- loved is a ruined place. The implication of the two types of Ka‘bas is often used either positively to test the sincerity of the mystic, or negatively to condemn ‘attribution of a partner to God’ or ‘polytheism’ (serk). In his Kimiya-ye sa‘adat (Elixir of Happiness), Abu Hamed Mohammad Qazali (d. 505/1111) makes a sharp contrast between those people who undertake an outward journey and those who travel inwardly. In his view, the former desire only to see the “outward of the Ka‘ba” while the latter remain at home and it is the “Ka‘ba that comes to them and goes around them and tells her secrets to them.”13 Moreover, there exist several stories and anecdotes illustrating the difference between Ka‘ba-ye del and Ka‘ba-ye gel using mill imagery. The following piece is most probably based on an anecdote about the famous mystic Joneyd of Baghdad (d. 298/910) who wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca but an illuminated old man stopped him under way and asked Joneyd: “How much money do you have?” Joneyd answered: “200 Drachmas.” The old man then said to him: “Give these 200 Drachmas to me and turn ten times around me and go back to your own home, because this is much better than circling around the Ka‘ba.”14 The same story with some alterations is also told by Sams of Tabriz (d. 1248): Do you want to buy a mill? Purchase me so that I spin for your sake. The mill is made of stones and lime while I am made of skin, meat, fat and veins. I am alive and have a soul. If you give [the money to me], I will spin around you. How much money are you going to earn? Two Drachmas? Accept these five drachmas. Do you think you can have more benefit?15

12 ka‘ba-o bot-kada bi jelva-ye mastana-ye yar / asia’i-st keh andaxta-and abas ra. 13 Kimiya-ye sa‘adat, ed. H. Xadiv-Jam, Tehran: ‘Elmi va Farhangi, fourth edition, 1368/1989, Vol. I, pp. 456-57. Qazali relates the following saying of Abu Sa‘id to these two classes of people: “As long as people walk with blistered feet [to reach the Ka‘ba], the chivalrous men reach (the Ka‘ba) without any blister,” ta mardoman pay abela konand, mardan bi abela rasidand. For an extensive analysis of the Ka‘ba as a female beloved see A.L.F.A., Beelaert, A Cure for the Grieving: Studies on the Poetry of the 12th-Century Per- sian Court Poet Khaqani Sirwani, Phd dissertation, Leiden: 1996, chapter four; also see A.A. Seyed-Gohrab, A Narration of Love: an Analysis of the Twelfth Century Persian Poet Nizami’s Layli and Majnun, Ph.D. dissertation, Leiden: 2001, pp. 267-76. 14 Mowlana Rumi tells this story in Masnavi-ye ma‘navi, ed. M. Este‘lami, Tehran: Zavvar, 1372/ 1993, book II, p. 102, ll. 2224-2232. 15 Maqalat-e Sams-e Tabrizi, ed. M‘A. Movahhed, Tehran: Diba, 1369/1990, second part p. 121. Also compare the first part, (p. 127) in which the same story with some modification is recounted. For a biography of Sams see F.D. Lewis, Rumi: Past and Present, East and West, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2000, chapter 4. 110 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB

Aside from the aforementioned cases, there is another mill imagery that is popular with Persian poets. In this imagery, a metaphysical aspect is given to the Ka‘ba by inter- preting it as the centre of the universe around which the heavens circle. Xaqani of Shervan (d. 1199) versifies: “The heaven is circling around her (Ka‘ba) / surely, the mill spins around the pole.”16

Mill imagery depicting some aspects of love

Poets derive a wide range of imageries, similes and metaphors from various aspects of the mill to depict love and its concomitants. In this type of imagery, compound words such as ‘the mill of love’ (asia-ye ‘eshq), ‘the mill of sorrow’ (asia-ye qam), etc. are common- place. Much of this mill imagery serves to illustrate how love, sorrow and pain of separation break up the lover’s heart. In the following couplet, the father of Persian literature, Rudaki of Samarqand describes how his heart has been ground by the beloved’s love: My heart is like a grain of millet while your love a mountain: why do you grind the millet by the mountain?17 The tenth century poet Labibi complains that his heart has become ground in the mill of his beloved’s love: Since my heart has been crushed by her mill of love it is as if the dust of the mill is upon my head.

Sana’i of Qazna (d. 525/1131) alludes several times to the mill. In the following couplet, he asks his beloved to drink wine and pity him because he has been ground by the mill of sorrow. What is conspicuous in Sana’i’s usage of the mill imagery is that in the majority of references, he somehow combines the words as and asia in one hemistich: O friend, drink the cup of wine in my memory because I have been ground (as) by the mill (asia) of sorrow. In another couplet, by making an allusion to Zoleyxa, the lover of Yusof, who endured much of people’s blame, the poet advises the reader not to desire a Yusof-like beloved in this world. The mill stands for the world. By using such a metaphor, Sana’i is also stating that a lover should be prepared for any hardship on the path of love: If you are not Zoleyxa in the mill, which grinds love (asia-ye mehr-as), do not speak in vain about Yusof of Kan‘an.18 In another couplet, using the poetic figure of tanasob, ‘harmony of images,’ Sana’i compares the lover’s broken heart to the shape of a grain of wheat: the lover moves devotionally around the beloved like a wind-wheel: With a chest split in two like a grain of wheat I am running around you like [the sails of] a mill.19 16 Divan-e Xaqani, ed. Z.D. Sajjadi, Tehran: Zavvar, 1357/1987, p. 41; a similar comparison can be found in Rumi’s Divan, Vol. I, p. 163: “With all its works and power, the heavenly wheel turns around God like a mill.” 17 Divan-e Rudaki, ed. M. Danespazuh, Tehran: Tus, 1374/1995, p. 24. 18 Divan-e Sana’i, p. 984, g. 312, l. 5. 19 Ibid., p. 947, g. 254, l. 13. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 111

The poet Anvari (520-585/1126-1189) uses a number of mill imageries in connec- tion to love as well. In one of his qazals, the lover complains that every night a mill starts to run in his head by the blood of his liver.20 In another poem, in which he defines ‘loverhood’ (‘aesqi), the poet observes that one of the prerequisites of a lover is to be like the nether millstone: even “if love grinds (as) the bones”21 the lover should patiently endure the pain and avoid complaining. The poetess Mahsati of Ganja (12th century) uses mill imagery in one of her quatrains comparing the beloved’s stony heart to a millstone; all people are moved by the lover’s wretched condition, except the cruel beloved: As narrow as it is, the heart is the place of your sorrow, the rose is the servant of your face in any colour that it appears: Except the stone of your heart, all other millstones Run by the water of my eyes every night.22 This type of imagery also occurs in Jamal Xalil Servani’s Nozhat al-majales in which he devotes a chapter to the beloved’s stony heart.23 It may be added here that the sort of mill referred to in many of these metaphors concerns the water-mill. In the following metaphor, the agonising lover sheds torrent of tears in order to move the beloved’s heart, which is as immovable as a heavy stone: As I found out that she was rancorous, I felt destitute and threw dust on myself. I made a stream run from the source of my eye (casma-ye casm); may it be that her stony heart24 would turn.25 Apart from the beloved’s heart, which is as heavy as a stone, the burden of separation feels so heavy for the lover that he compares it to a millstone.26 Among the Persian poets, Rumi employs the most kaleidoscopic and erotic metaphors based on the mill. The references are far too many to be all collated in this short essay. In what follows, I will present only a limited number of them. In the following distich, the lover describes his restlessness and asks the beloved to send him loving things: O, the splendour of my soul depends upon you, I am spinning like the Wheel because of you; o soul, send me wheat so that the mill may not spin in vain.27 In the next metaphor, having experienced the hardship of love, the lover complains of being in the mill, because he is actually turned into flour by love:

20 Divan-e Anvari, vol. II, p. 798. 21 Ibid., Vol. II., p. 899. 22 F. Meier, Die schöne Mahsati: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des persischen vierzeilers, Band I, Wiesbaden: 1963, p. 171; Mahsati, ed. A. Suhayli Xansari, Tehran: ‘Elmi, 1371/1992, p. 168; this quatrain also occurs in Nozhat al-majales without mentioning the name of the author. See p. 470, q. 2499. “Water of the eye” stands for “tears.” For this usage of water see the excellent study of Daniella Meneghini Correale, The Handling of Ab/Water in Farruhi, Hafiz and Talib, Venezia: Lirica Persica 10, 1993. 23 Nozhat al-majales, ed. M.A. Riyahi, Tehran: Zavvar, 1366/1987, pp. 413-18. 24 The phrase used here is ambiguous; del-e sanginas can also mean “her heavy heart.” 25 Nohzat al-majales, q. 2495, p. 469. 26 Sa‘di, Qazal-ha-ye Sa‘di, ed. N.A. Iranparast, Vol. I, p. 36. 27 Divan, Vol. I, p. 7. 112 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB

Although my hair has become like milk,28 it has become old by the longing for death. I am flour, I am not wheat; Why am I here in the mill? Wheat should go to the mill, for it is born in the sign of Virgo; I am born of the moon and not of Virgo; Why am I in the mill? No, no, also in the mill, the light of the moon will shine through an opening, from there, it goes to the moon, and not to the baker’s shop.29 In the next couplet, the lover informs the beloved that the spinning of the mill’s sails lightens his soul: O my ocean, full of corals, o my whirling soul, by God, the spinning of the mill lightens my soul.30 In the following lines, the lover compares his own inactivity and apathy caused by the beloved’s separation to the water running the mill. The poet intensifies the imagery by making an analogy between himself and the mill: if the mill’s water is held back, the mill stops its activity: I am here, I am here, o munificent one, your love is in my head, I spin through your water like the sails of a mill.31 The mill would never know the intention of its spinning: Is it the pillar of our food or the occupation of the baker? Water makes the millstone running and spinning. If the Truth barricades the water, it will not move from its place.32 Surveying mill imageries connected to love, it is not out of place to mention here that according to ‘Attar, when the Prophet gave the hand of his daughter Fatema to ‘Ali b. Abi Taleb (d.661), the fourth Caliph and the first Shiite Imam, as part of her dowry he also gave her a ‘hand millstone’ (sang-e dast as).33 The mill is also used in romances not specifically depicting an aspect of love, but as a metaphor for something else. For instance, in ‘Ayyuqi’s Varqa and Golsah, Golsah’s father uses this proverbial use of the mill to show his solemn promise: If the mill makes flour of me, I do not separate them (i.e. the lovers).34

Mill imagery alluding to heaven, fate and time

Heaven and time are depicted in Persian by several comparisons to the mill as well as by synonymous compounds such as asia-ye zaman(a), asia-ye ruzgar, asia-ye dowran, all

28 Comparing the white or grey hair to milk also occurs in Sana’i’s writings. See De Bruijn, J.T.P., Of Piety and Poetry: The Interaction of Religion and Literature in the Life and Works of Hakim Sana’i of Ghazna, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1983, p. 30. 29 Divan, Vol. I, p. 9. 30 Ibid., p. 15. 31 Ibid., p. 74, cf. Sams-e Tabriz ju raha kon / gardan kon sang-i asia ra, ‘The Sun of Tabriz, let the stream flow, make the millstone spin.’ 32 Ibid., p. 17. 33 ‘Attar, Elahi-nama, ed. H. Ritter, reprinted Tehran: Tus, 1368/1089, p. 274. 34 ‘Ayyuqi, Varqa u Golsah, ed. D. A. Safa, Tehran: 1362/1983, p. 93. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 113 denoting ‘the mill of time and destiny,’ and asia-ye asman or sepehr, ‘the mill of heaven,’ asia-ye falak, ‘the mill of the sphere,’ asia-ye carx, ‘the mill of the Wheel.’ There are also metonyms such as haft asiab, ‘seven mills’ referring to the seven heavens.35 Not only are such comparisons due to the spherical shape of heaven, which resembles the round shape of the millstone and heaven’s actual circular movement, these comparisons have also something to do with the ancient Persian belief concerning the substance of heaven. In Middle Persian (Pahlavi) literature, heaven’s substance is described as stone and the word for ‘heaven’ (as(e)man) means ‘stone.’36 In describing heaven, the Persian poly- math Abu Reyhan Biruni (362-440/973-1048) states: “The Persians call it asman because it resembles a millstone (as) and its movement.”37 Moreover, the alliteration and asso- nance in the words heaven, (as(e)man) and the mill (asia) may also be one of the reasons for the large amount of comparisons between the two. What is more, sometimes poets play on ‘grind’ (as) and man, meaning among other things ‘us’ as in the following couplet by Kesa’i of Marv (b.952): Heaven is a spinning mill; it is grinding us constantly, (aseman as-e man konad hazman).38 Somewhere else, Kesa’i uses the compound ‘the mill of time’ to refer to the influence of time on the sublunary events: I have become ground by the mill of time I will become crushed at the end.39 Again, in another distich, Kesa’i alludes to the ephemeral nature of the world by referring to the blows of the mill and how it can invalidate a king’s power by a simple blow:1 (…) the king’s crown and its garland of flowers are all again subject to the blow of the mill.40 Mohammad b. Vasif (10th century) also compares the whirling of Heaven to the spinning of a mill: The circle of the Wheel is whirling like a mill therefore it grinds everyone’s possession.41 35 Cf. Rumi, Divan, vol. I, p. 179. az in haft asia ma nan naju’im / nanusim ab ma zin sabz dulab, ‘we do not seek bread from these seven mills (i.e. seven heavens)/ we do not drink water from this green Wheel; cf. p. 151: “In the storage of your wisdom, there are many grains / which will not break by the seven mills.” 36 A. Tafazzoli in Encycl. Iranica, s.v. Asman; also compare J.R. Hinnells, Persian Mythology, Yugo- slavia, 1985, p. 22; for the Indo-European beliefs of the stone heaven see J.P. Maher, “Haekmon: ‘(Stone) Axe’ and ‘Sky’ in I-E/Battle-Axe Culture” in The Journal of Indo-European Studies, Vol. I, No 4, Winter, 1973, pp. 441-62 (for this reference I am indebted to Dr. Jonny Cheung); sometimes poets poetically state that the reason why the heaven is called asman is because it is a grinding mill, asia asa-st, that is, by its motion, heaven destroys everything upon the earth. See ‘Attar, Mosibat-nama, p. 149. 37 al-Tafhim le-ava’el sana‘ate at-tanjim, ed. J.D. Huma’i, Tehran: Babak, 1362/1983, p. 58; also see the Arabic and the English translation, The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology, Eng- lish trans., R.R. Wright, London: Luzac, 1934, p. 45. 38 Sa’eran-e ham-‘asr-e Rudaki, ed. A. Edaraci Gilani, Tehran: Bahman, 1370/1991, pp. 288, 305. 39 Ibid., p. 309. 40 Ibid., p. 298. 41 In G. Lazard, Les premiers poètes persans, Tome II, Tehran: Departement d’Iranologie, 1964, p. 15. 114 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB

Naser Xosrow compares heaven to ‘a fast-spinning mill, which has no door’ (asia-ye tiz- row-e bi dar).42 In another place, the poet invites the reader to tread the path of God and to ignore heaven’s influences: The heaven is a fast grinding mill one cannot be happy and sorrowful about it.43 Mas‘ud Sa‘d Salman complains about heaven and addresses it as if it is the wheel of the mill: O dragon of the Wheel, devour a bit more of my heart and o mill of the Wheel, grind my body finer.44 In another couplet, Mas‘ud uses the shaft of the mill as a metaphor for his patience and persistence: If the Wheel spins on my head like a mill I will not move from my place like the shaft of the mill.45 Sana’i compares heaven to a mill and the Mover to the miller: The Wheel, and He who makes the mill spin: one is the mill while the other the Miller.46 Anvari also alludes to the heaven as a mill: The skirt of your fortune is purified from the dust of heaven’s grinding; because of the heavenly oppression, your enemy is spinning like a mill. Another most favourite allusion to heaven is ‘the mill of cycles’ (asia-ye dowran), denoting the passage of time. In Nezami’s Leyli and Majnun, in the chapter in which Majnun dies at Leyli’s grave, the narrator refers to the world’s transient nature through mill imagery: O you, who are crippled like an old ass-mill, sometimes your spinning assumes the colour of amber. Abstain from this rotating mill, because he (Majnun) has gone beyond [the point] that he can be rescued by men.47 Heaven is also referred to as a ‘green mill’ (asia-ye sabz). Mojir Bilqani sings: All seeds that have become lost in this green mill: where else can they be found except in the midst of man’s seeds? It is worth noting here that there are other kinds of metaphors such as the following, which indirectly refer to heaven or the First Mover. Naser Xosrow compares the world to 42 Divan-e Naser Xosrow, p. 147, l. 8. 43 Ibid., p. 327, l. 22. 44 Divan-e Mas‘ud Sa‘d Salman, ed. R. Yasami, Tehran: Amir Kabir, second edition 1362/1983, p. 504, l. 3. For an extensive study of this poet’s life see S. Sharma, Persian Poetry at the Indian Frontier: Mas‘ud Sa‘d Salman of Lahore, Delhi: Permanent Black Monographs: The ‘OPUS 1’ Series, 2000. 45 Ibid., p. 2, l. 1. 46 Hadiqat al-haqiqa, p. 90, l. 13. 47 Leyli o Majnun, ed. B. Servateyan, Tehran: Asatir, 1364/1985, p. 341, ll. 21-22. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 115 a watermill, whose water streams from the outside, and the miller is also outside the mill- house: I heard from a sincere person that this [world] is an upright mill whose water comes from the outside. You will see the miller when you go outside the mill; you can see Him also in the mill with your eyes if you have a seeing eye. Behold, what are the Miller’s grains in the mill? If the mill does not have grains, it cannot be called a mill. The commanding reason does the same to the learned soul because this is surely made for our sake. How can our nature become the ruler of the mill in this way?48 To conclude this type of imagery, we may cite the following couplets by Mowlana Rumi which illustrate the reality of man’s existence: The heart is like a grain and we are like a mill: How can the mill know why it spins? The body is like the stone and the water in the mill is the thought; the stone speaks while the water knows the account. Water says: “Ask the miller who leads the water in this descent.” The miller would say to you: “O eater of bread, If the mill does not spin, how can you have any bread?”49

Mill imagery depicting the ageing process

Persian poets sometimes rely on the mill imagery to depict the ageing process. As early as the 10th century, poets loved to describe various aspects of old age by referring to the falling out of the teeth, the grey hair, the bent back, etc. Often the poet complains about the heaven’s tyranny and how it is grinding man down. Nasir Xosrow complains of the mill (i.e. ‘the heaven’) for crushing human beings: O Wheel of the Mill, I do not see you resting; you yourself do not become pulverised, yet you are pulverising us.50 In another couplet, the poet compares old age to a miller whose hair has been turned white by the flour: As much as the mill of the world spun over you like a mill you are covered by the dust of the mill.51 Rumi alludes to asia-ye carx, and how it literally makes man’s hair grey: The mill of the Wheel offers white hair and infirmity in the back for those who possess no wheat.

48 Divan, p. 440, ll. 1-5a. 49 Rumi, Divan, p. 113. 50 Divan-e Naser Xosrow, p. 459. 51 Ibid., p. 460. 116 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB

Yet this mill gives status to those who possess wheat; it offers them position and standing.52 In his qazal consisting of 27 couplets with the radif-ryhme asia (‘mill’), Sa’eb refers to several aspects of mill imagery and he also alludes to growing old: Although black will take no other hue this mill has turned the colour of our hair white by its spinning.53

Other miscellaneous mill imagery

Poets and mystics sometimes use some aspect of the mill to teach a lesson. For instance, the Esma‘ili propagandist Naser Xosrow (394-470/1004-1077) alludes several times to the mill. In the following couplet, which has become proverbial, he refers to the fluctua- tions of life and how fortune may frown on man: Although a mouse receives much benefit from the mill the inviting mill will one day give a blow on its head undoubtedly.54 In the following distich, the poet gives a lesson, teaching his reader to anticipate. The couplet can also be read as a metaphor for the Prophetic tradition: “This world is the seed-bed for the hereafter.” Man should perform well in this world so that he can harvest the rewards in the world hereafter: He who does not take his wheat when he goes to the mill, will become in want of flour while turning from the mill to his house.55 The great mystic Abu Sa‘id Abu ’l-Xeyr (b. 357/967) uses the spinning of the mill to teach his disciples the nature of Sufism: One day our master with a group of Sufis arrived at a mill. He halted his horse and stopped for a while. Then he said: “Do you know what this mill is saying?” “It is saying: ‘What I am doing is Sufism; you should receive course things and return them fine;56 to go around yourself and to journey into yourself so that you can turn away anything which is not approved of (…).57 Farid ad-Din ‘Attar (d. 1220) versifies the same story in Mosibat-nama. In ‘Attar’s retell- ing, the mill speaks but here it identifies itself with a Sufi master and invites the other mystics to follow his example:

52 Masnavi, ed. M. Este‘lami, Vol. 6, p. 199, ll. 4446-47. In these verses, the metaphor of possessing no wheat alludes to those people who perform nothing on God’s path. Their endeavour brings no benefit while they become old and grey. In contrast, ‘those who possess wheat,' refers to those who have been ac- cepted by God and, therefore, have a high rank in both worlds. 53 Divan-i Sa’eb Tabrizi, ed. M. Qahraman, Tehran: ‘Elmi va farhangi, 1370/ 1991, Vol. I, p. 158, q. 308, l. 17. 54 Divan-e Naser Xosrow, p. 24. 55 Ibid., p. 54. 56 For the proverbial use of this sentence see the last section of this paper. 57 Asrar at-towhid fi maqamat seyx abi Sa‘id, ed. M.R. Safi‘i Kadkani, Tehran: Agah, 1371/1992, Vol. I, p. 274; also see H. Ritter, Das Meer, p. 619. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 117

Bu Sa‘id went towards a mill and found it at high gear. He stood for a while and then he returned again telling a secret to his companions. He said: “This mill is a good master but the eye of an outsider cannot see it. Because the mill just said secretly to me that in this era, I am the Sufi in the world. Although you are exerting yourself in Sufism I am by name your master in practising Sufism. Day and night I am constantly travelling in myself: my feet are firmly standing, yet I myself am travelling. Although I am moving I do not move from my place; I travel from head to foot and from foot to head. I receive many coarse things from every person, and I yield them fine and I turn them many times. If the whole world becomes topsy-turvy, my work is nothing else than spinning with my head. It is for this reason that I am always working I perform my job smoothly. Be like me if you are the man worthy of the work, otherwise, sit down if you have no motivation to work. Not for a moment can man be without work, the effect remains always in the soul. Since He knows that the work is for His sake, It is worth spinning even by blood.58 ‘Attar recounts another story about the mill in Mosibat-nama. This time the mill is used to elucidate the mystical state of sar-gastagi, ‘bewilderment’ or literally ‘spinning the head.’ Sar-gastagi usually alludes to the station in which the mystic lover is unable to distinguish between the lover and the beloved.59 ‘Attar relates the story to show the heaven’s eternal spinning. When the main character of his poem, the salek-e fekrat (‘traveller of thought’), which is presented as the personification of meditation, comes to heaven and asks it about its endless circular journey, heaven explains that it is actually more sar- gasta ‘bewildered’ than the salek-e fekrat. Later, a solution is offered as how to become released from such an eternal spinning by the following anecdote. ‘Attar is suggesting to the reader how the lover can be released from bewilderment by being beheaded:60 From a remote way, a Seyx carried a millstone with his disciples.

58 Mosibat-nama, pp. 100-01. 59 See ‘Ezz ad-Din Mahmud Kasani, Konuz al-asrar va romuz al-ahrar in Soruh-e Savaneh, ed. A. Mojahed, Tehran: Sorus, 1372/1993, p. 10. Often the story of Bayazid is recounted to illustrate the state of bewilderment. This mystic thought for a long time that he was the lover of God, but later he found out that God had been initially the Lover and he the beloved. Also compare Ahmad Qazali’s Savaneh, ed. H. Ritter, reprinted Tehran: Markaz-e nasr-e danesgahi, 1368/1989, p. 41. 60 For the mystic’s desire for decapitation see A.A. Seyed-Gohrab, A Narration of Love, pp. 154ff; also see H. Ritter, Das Meer, p. 86. 118 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB

It happened that this expensive stone broke and with the break of the stone, the Seyx fell into an ecstatic state. All of his disciples said: “O, how strange, we exerted ourselves with our souls day and night, And not only our gold and exertion have been spoiled but this millstone has been spoiled as well. Is this the place to fall into an ecstatic state, tell us? we are not aware of this outward happening, tell us.” The Seyx said: “The reason that this stone has been broken here is that it has been released from much spinning. Were it not broken a bit, it would have been spinning day and night undoubtedly. Now that it has obviously been broken, this restless stone has found stillness. Since my state became visible through this stone, my heart became like a wax instantly. Since I heard its secret by the ear of the heart, my ecstatic state appeared by means of this stone. Whoever always spins, will be entirely released when he is broken. Whoever remains spinning and is bewildered, his pain will remain eternally incurable.61 Nezami of Ganja (d. 1209) makes several imageries that serve to teach the reader a didac- tic lesson. For instance, in Leyli and Majnun, the poet states: Do not take the axis in your hand like a well, take and give like a mill-stone. If you take, you have to give; it is by giving and taking that the world flourishes.62 The poet Sa‘di alludes several times to the mill in his works. In Golestan (The Rose Gar- den), Sa‘di states that a true mystic endures any hardship but does not move away from the way of a rolling millstone; the mystic should comply completely to God’s will: He is not a mystic who moves away from the way of a millstone running down from a mountain.63 Also in the story of an athlete, Sa‘di uses a mill imagery to express that those who stay still and do not participate in activities should endure heavy burden. The poet’s expression, which has a proverbial value, runs as follows: asia-sang-e zirin moteharrek nist lajeram tahammol-e bar-e geran hami konad, ‘the fixed bed-stone of the mill does not move, therefore, it endures the heavy burden.’64 In the following lines, Rumi (1207-1273) compares the speech of the prophets and saints to water and its impact on the followers to the water running into the mill and making the millstone move: 61 Mosibat-nama, p. 149. 62 Leyli o Majnun, ed. B. Servateyan, Tehran: Asatir, 1364/1985, p. 206, l. 39. 63 Golestan, ed. Q. Yusofi, Tehran: Sahab, third edition, 1373/1994, p. 170. 64 Ibid., p. 125. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 119

Every prophet and saint has a way, since the way brings man to the Truth, all roads are the same. When sleep overcomes all of the listeners water moves the millstones. The passage of this water goes beyond the mill, its running to the mill is for your sake. Since you had no need of the mill, the water is brought back to the original river.65 In describing man’s uniqueness in his Kimiya-ye sa‘adat, Mohammad Qazali employs a mill imagery to describe the teeth: The tips of the fore-teeth are sharp in order to cut food while the other teeth are wide in order to grind the food. The tongue’s relation to the teeth is like the miller’s shovel that throws food into the mill’s mouth.66

Riddles based on the mill

Being one of the popular ancient genres of Persian literature, the riddling verses depicting the mill occur frequently.67 These riddles belong to the folk poetry. Even today, they can be heard at play-grounds sung by children; sometimes children consciously use these riddling songs to test each other’s intelligence. The following riddle compares the mill to a dragon: A dragon whose back resembles a hedgehog His words are all very big He eats the sustenance of all people His mouth lies in his middle. In the next riddle, a water-mill is depicted: A seesaw from Yazd It eats neither bread nor vegetable It drinks a lot of water It offers its bread to people.68 The following three riddles are also about the mill: What is that spinning thing that does not say a thing It spins day and night yet does not take a step When it shouts, it is like the lion’s roar It lets snow fall yet it does not become wet.69

65 Rumi, Masnavi-ye ma‘navi, ed. M. Este‘lami, book I, ll. 3099-3102. 66 Kimiya-ye sa‘adat, ed. H. Xadiv-Jam, Tehran: ‘Elmi va Farhangi, 1368/1989, Vol. I, p. 49. 67 For a short study of Persian riddles see A.A. Seyed-Gohrab, “Sayr-e tahavvul va karbandi-ye cistan dar se‘r-e Farsi” in Nashr-e Danesh, vol. 17, No. 2, Summer, 2000, pp. 7-16. 68 This riddle also occurs in Farhad Baxsanda’s collection, only the last hemistich is different: “How easy it carries water!” See Cistan, Pesavar: Al-azhar, second edition, 1369/1990, p. 28, riddle 208. 69 Citing Muhammad Javad Behruzi's Cistan dar adabeyyat-e Farsi (1350/1971), Samlu gives another version of the same riddle: “What is that hastening beauty / it travels night and day yet it does not take a step / when it roars, it looks like a cloud at spring / it lets snow fall yet it does not become wet.” See Ketab- e kuca, Tehran: Mazyar, 1377/1998, second edition, vol. I, pp. 476-78; the riddle has also been included in Baxsanda’s Cistan, p. 40, riddle number 302. 120 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB

During the night it spins During the day it spins It never gets tired I have seen an artifice, which has a technique That the female has its place upon the male70 It uses the same nourishment as mankind Its mouth lies in the middle of its belly. In the riddles collected by Farhad Baxsanda, there are several riddles about the mill: “What is it that it pounds night and day, and never stops turning.” In the following piece, the writer uses one of the most popular techniques of telling a riddle, namely giving the word to the object described. What is also conspicuous about this riddle is its erotic suggestion, which also belongs to this genre of poetry. Some riddles hint at erotic or even obscene answer, but they often possess an innocent one: Navel against navel The pin against the hole You underneath and I above Do not move so that I can move.71 The following three riddles are included in Charles T. Scott’s Persian and Arabic Rid- dles. These riddles also belong to the same popular folk riddles: “What is it that it turns with water to produce bread?”72 “It barks, it scolds; it heaps a heap of snow around itself.”73 “It snows, it does not make anything wet, it goes around, it does not walk.”74 A similar riddle is given by Baxsanda: “It spins and roars constantly night and day; its spinning brings snow, such snow that shows no sign of wet.”75 There are also riddles describing the upper and nether stones such as the following: “What is it that two sisters fight each other, shooting white bullets?”76 Among many riddles included by E. Sakur- zada in ‘Aqayed va rosum-e mardom-e Xorasan, the following is about a water-mill: “A white and loving horse, she eats neither straw nor grass, she drinks a lot of water and gives money to the state.”77

Popular beliefs connected to the mill

There are several public beliefs related to the mill. Perhaps the most favourite among them is the ancient belief in growing poor and ill-fated when sweeping the courtyard

70 Cf. “I have seen an artifice in this plain / that the male slept while the female was whirling” is a shortened variant of the riddle cited above; Farhad Baxsanda gives another version of the second hemistich: (…) that it was roaring, groaning and spinning.” See F. Baxsanda, Cistan, p. 14, riddle 86. 71 Another version of the same riddle goes as follows: “I am a black man with the head cut off / you are white like snow / You underneath and I above / Do not move so that I can move.” Samlu, Ketab-e kuca, p. 478. 72 Charels T. Scott, Persian and Arabic Riddles: A Language-Centered Approach to Genre Defini- tion, Bloomington: Indiana University, 1965, p. 90. 73 Ibid., p. 101. 74 Ibid., p. 101. 75 Baxsanda, Cistan, p. 23, riddle 164. 76 Ibid., p. 32, riddle 230. 77 E. Sakurzada ‘Aqayed va rosum-e mardom-e Xorasan, Tehran: second edition, Sorus, 1363/1984, p. 532. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 121 during the night. To avoid this ill omen, man should utter the following formulae, asiab jaru mikonam, ‘I am sweeping the mill.’ Another popular belief concerns a miller and his debt. When a person wants to get off early in the morning he should speak the following to his cushion before going to sleep: deyn-e asiaban-o gomrok-ci-o gazma-o morda-sur ba gardanat agar mara dir bidar koni, ‘the debt of the miller, the custom-house officer, the night-watch and the washer of the dead be paid by you, if you do not make me awaken.’78 Fearing that it has to pay the debt of all these people, the cushion will shake at dawn and make the person in question awaken. It is, of course, evident that man believes that these classes of people have always huge debts. There are also several folksongs and children-games connected to the mill. In one of these plays, children hold each other’s hands and form a circle. Then one of them shouts: “Mill, run.” And they start to run circularly till they fall down.79 The mill also occurs in various Persian folksongs sang by children, the most famous of which is perhaps the song, ‘I got cold and I trembled’ (sarma xordam u larzidam): I got cold and I trembled I crept under the earth The earth gave me water I gave the water to a twig the twig gave me a leaf I gave the leaf to a goat the goat gave me dung I gave the dung to the earth The earth gave me grains of wheat I gave the grains to the mill The mill gave me flour, (…) This song runs to tens of lines and is very popular in different provinces in Iran where it is sung in different dialects.80

Dream interpretation

As in other cultures, the mill plays also a role in dream interpretation in Persia.81 If someone dreams of a mill, he will become famous, rich and will undertake chivalrous deeds.82 If he sees that the mill is spinning, he will attain prosperity, respect and happiness. If the mill stops spinning, he will turn poor. In Hadiqat al-haqiqa, Hakim Sana’i states: “The mill alludes to trustworthy people / those who select the best in the house.”83 In his indis- pensable Ketab-e kuca, A. Samlu presents the following cases of dream interpretations related to the mill: “To dream that someone has a mill in which he grinds wheat, signifies his prosperity achieved through the work of other people. If someone dreams that his

78 S. Hedayat, Neyrangestan, Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1342/1963, p. 101. 79 See A. Samlu, Ketab-e kuca, Vol. I., p. 822. 80 For various Xorasani versions of this song see E. Sakurzada, ‘Aqayed va rosum, p. 424ff. 81 For the western view on this aspect of the mill see G.H. Miller, The Wordsworth Dictionary of Dreams, Wordsworth Editions, 1994, s.v. mill. 82 H. Nurani Kermani, Ta‘bir-e xab, Tehran: 1344/1965, s.v. Asiab. 83 Hadiqat al-haqiqa va sari‘at al-tariqa, ed. M.T. Mudarres Razavi, Tehran: Danesgah-e Tehran, 1368/1989, p. 123, l. 4. 122 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB millstone breaks, it foretells that he will die, or his house will be destroyed, or his wish will remain unfulfilled. If someone dreams that his millstone has been stolen, or that he himself has sold his millstone, he will either loose his occupation or he himself will per- ish. To dream of owning a mill and grinding sesames, denotes sorrow and anguish. To dream that a hand-mill is used in houses, divines sorrow. To dream that a mill is run by a donkey is prosperous and one’s wealth will increase. To dream that in one’s own house or land, a mill is always running, denotes the increase of wealth in his own town and the dreamer will receive benefit from his own work. To dream that a mill is running in the opposite direction signifies fierce war, battlefield and offence in that place based on the spinning power of the mill. To dream about a mill foretells war and enmity. To dream that a millstone is made of mirror, indicates contention with women. To dream that a millstone is of copper, brass or iron denotes war and battlefield. If someone dreams that he runs the millstone by his own hand, foretells that he has a hardhearted associate, because of whom his work maintains regularity. To dream that a mill is running, yet is grinding stones, iron or anything other than grain denotes war. To dream that a mill is running without grinding anything, forebodes probably a journey for the dreamer. To dream of a miller, denotes that the miller prepares people’s daily bread.”84 In addition, although the following interpretation belongs to the dreaming of a ‘molar tooth,’ dandan- e aseyab, it might be referred to here. If someone dreams that his molar tooth has fallen, one of his older family members will pass away.

Persian proverbs based on the mill

As many other languages, Persian is rich with proverbs and expressions connected to the mill.85 As pointed out by Ehsan Yarshater, a proverb “is a short expression of a long experience. In fact in proverbs are distilled the essence of a nation’s experience of life in its varied aspects. They reflect the intelligent conclusion that a people have reached in centuries and millennia; they are also their comments on their life and society; in short, proverbs reflect the earthly wisdom of a people.”86 The following list of proverbs, which is by no means exhaustive, shows the trenchant role of the genre of precept (andarz) in every- day life of the Persians. ab(ha) az asia oftada ast, literally ‘water(s) has fallen from the mill’ refers to quietude, peace and silence followed by a huge uproar and commotion. It also refers to events that were bound to much tumult but are now forgotten.87 84 A. Samlu, Ketab-e kuca, Theran: Mazyar, 1377/1998, Vol. I, pp. 820-22. 85 The following proverbs and adages are collated not only from the classical Divans, but also from different books including: A. Samlu’s Ketab-e kuca, (s.v. asiab) which is a rich collection of proverbs on the mill; M. Servat, Farhang-e kenayat, Tehran: Soxan, 1375/1996, p. 17; ‘A.A. Dihxoda, Loqat-nama, Tehran: Majles, 1325/1946; idem, Amsal o hekam, Vol. I, Tehran: Amir Kabir, 7th edition, 1370/1991; H. Soja‘i, Amsal-e se‘r- Farsi, Tehran: Gutenberg, 1351/1972; Muhammad Padsah motaxalles ba Sad, Anandraj: farhang-e jame‘-e Farsi, Tehran: Xayyam, 1363/1984; F. Steingass, Persian-English Dictionary. London: Routledge, 1963. 86 As cited on the back-cover of F. Akbar, The Eye of an Ant: Persian Proverbs & Poems into English Verse, Maryland: Iranbooks, 1995. 87 It is worth mentioning that this proverb forms a refrain in Axavan Sales’s poem Nader or Alexan- der. See Axavan Sales, Axar-e sahnama, Tehran: Morvarid, 1372/1993, pp. 9-25. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 123 abam ast o gabam ast nowbat-e asiabam ast, ‘I have water and a cow, while it is my turn at the miller,’ is used when many difficulties and distress overwhelm someone at the same time. ab ba asia-ye kasi rixtan, ‘to pour water in someone else’s mill’ is used when someone works with much effort to prepare ease and benefit for someone who is greedy, rich and powerful, and who does not necessarily appreciate the efforts. ab ru-ye carx-i asiab-e kasi rixtan, ‘to pour water on someone’s wheel-mill’ shares the same meaning as ab ba asia-ye kasi rixtan, but it is also used when fortune favours someone. abi-st zir-e parra keh migardad asia, ‘there is water under the wheel that the mill runs’ meaning, the cause of an event or action comes from somewhere/something else. It is synonymous to serri-st zir-e parda keh migardad asman, ‘there is a secret behind the [in- visible] veil that heaven spins,’ meaning that heaven spins by a mysterious force. anqadr masjed soda keh do langa gandom ham asiab nemikonad, ‘Does it become so much the mosque that it cannot grind even two sacks of wheat?’ As recounted by A. Samlu, “the ancient mill of a village was demolished and a mosque was erected in its place. Unaware of this change, someone from a neighbouring town brought two sacks of wheat to grind. People told him that he had to go to the mill of another village because their mill had turned into a mosque. The man responded with some irony: “Has it become so much the mosque that it cannot grind even two sacks of wheat?” The proverb can also be used when referring in a blaming tone to someone who has become rich and has totally forgotten his roots and days of poverty. asia az pay-e rezq-e digari migardad, ‘the mill spins for the daily bread of someone else,’ is used when fortune turns its back on someone, or when someone works to prepare ease and benefit for someone else. It is almost synonymous to ab ru-ye carx-i asiab-e kasi rixtan. asia ba Xezr gastan, ‘to run the mill with Xezr’ refers to persons who enjoy enduring respect, reverence and love.’ The word Xezr is sometimes substituted either by az ab-e tala ‘gilding (lit. ‘by water of gold’) or by az gowhar, or ‘… of jewels.’ asia ba xun gastan, lit. ‘to run the mill with blood,’ metaphorically ‘calamity befalls.’ It means to make a mass murder and to run the mill by the blood of the victims. Perhaps one of the earliest references to this proverb occurs in Daqiqi’s (d.978) Gastasp-nama in the chapter in which the poet describes Arjasp’s escape from the battlefield.88 Citing Tarix-e Tabari, Samlu suggests that the proverb might have first been used in Xorasan during the early violent years of the Arab invasion. When the Umayyad Caliph Soleyman b. ‘Abdol-Malek appointed Mahlab as the governor of Xorasan, one of the commanders of Mahlab’s army was killed during the siege of the city of Gorgan. Mahlab then swore: “I will slaughter many people till I can run the mill, grind wheat, bake a loaf of bread and eat (…).” He kept his promise and murdered many people.

88 Divan-e Daqiqi, ed. M.J. Sari‘at, Tehran: Asatir, 1368/1989, p. 80, l. 745. 124 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB asia ba nowbat, ‘the mill in turns’ refers to respecting and keeping one’s turn. It is used as, for instance, in a queue. The expression is a synonym of asiab ast u pasta. asia bas, dorost bestan, narm baz deh, ‘Be a mill, take the coarse and return it fine’ is used when an addresser speaks harsh words to someone; the addressee should respond with fine and calm words. There are several metaphors based on this proverb, which de- serve to be mentioned. The grand poet of the Indian Style, Sa’eb builds several of his imageries by taking the teeth as the millstones and the grain as words which should be refined: bas ast ab-e dahan asia-ye dandan ra, ‘The water in the mouth is enough for the mill of the teeth…’ or gozast ‘omr-o nakardi kalam-e xod ra narm / tora ca hasel az in asia-ye dandan ast, ‘Your life has passed while you have not turned your words fine; what benefit do you want to draw from the mill of your teeth? asia dar gardes ast, ‘the mill is spinning,’ or asiabas xub micarxad, ‘his mill spins well’ meaning that someone’s works and life are going well. asia gardan, ‘runner of the mill,’ refers to a person who is competent in doing a job or arranging things for other people. asia-ye folani az bi-aberu’i dayer ast, ‘someone’s mill is based on dishonour’ (lit. ‘without the water of the face’) refers to those whose behaviour utterly lacks decorum. asia ra ca zaxira ast ze candan tak-o dow, ‘How much storage does the mill possess by all its running’ refers to people who work very hard but gain little or no benefit them- selves while others receive the benefit from their work. asiab az gardes oftadan, ‘the mill stops spinning’ refers to people who once were active and influential but now do not work any longer and have lost their influence. asiab ba ask-e casm gastan, ‘to run the mill by tears’ means to make someone very upset. It may also refer to a tyrannous rule. asiabas hanuz dar gardes ast, ‘his mill is still spinning’ alludes to elderly people who still work and have influence. It may also point to people who keep working inexhaustibly. asiabas modam dar gardes budan, ‘his mill is always spinning’ is ambiguous. It not only refers to people who keep eating, and those who keep talking but also to those who keep going on with an activity. asiab ra ba ab-e digaran gardandan, ‘to run the mill by someone else’s water’ means to have little confidence and to be dependent upon someone else. asiab-e bi ab, ‘a mill without water’ refers to a ruined place or house. asiab-e xod ra ba ab-e ru gardandan, ‘to run one’s own mill by honour’ (lit. ‘water of the face’) means to earn one’s bread based on honour and dignity. asiab-e seytan rah oftadan, ‘the mill of Satan starts to run,’ means to give a pretext to a loquacious person to talk. asia-ye me‘da, ‘the mill of the stomach’ referring to the process of digestion. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 125 avaz-e asia senidan-o ardi nadidan, ‘to hear the song of the mill without seeing any flour’ is used when someone pretends to be or to do something, but is and does nothing. (It is an equivalent of tabl-e tu xali budan, ‘to be an empty tambourine.’) az asia bang budan, meaning to have the least part and influence on something or someone, as in the following couplet by Sana’i: ba to basam dorost o ses-dangam / bi to basam az asia bangam ‘With you I am whole and complete / without you I am the small- est part in the mill.’ az asia keh birun rafti, degar to ra ba sir o nim-sir ca kar, ‘when you have left the mill, why bother about one pound or half a pound.’89 When something has happened, man should not bother about it any longer. baq-e bala o asiab-e pa’in nadastan, ‘not owing the upper garden and the lower mill’ means not being rich or having the means to become so. bestan-o bedeh cu asia-sang, ‘take and give like a millstone.’ ceraq xamus ast o asiab migardad, ‘the light is off while the mill runs,’ means that something is going on secretly, or that something is going to happen while no one is aware of it. daxl ab-e ravan ast, xarj asiab-e gardan, ‘income is the running water, and expenditure the spinning mill.’ This proverb belongs to Sa‘di who in the sixth chapter of his Golestan states: “Income is the running water and pleasure is the spinning mill.”90 dar asia-ye ruzgar gastan, ‘to spin in the mill of time,’ meaning to live in the world of fate. dar sabr, co sang-e asia-im, ‘as regards patience, we are like the millstone’ refers to people who are very patient.91 gandomat ard sod dar asia langar makon, ‘when your wheat is ground, do not stay at the mill’ meaning that when you have performed your work somewhere, do not stay any longer. gu’i mara ba rah-e asia didi, saxt namehrabani, ‘You are very unkind as if you have seen me on the way to the mill,’ used when someone shows no friendship and familiarity as if he has seen the other person only once on the way to the mill. haman xar-e asia ast o haman rah-e siah, ‘it is the same donkey of the mill and the same black road,’ the proverbs is also used in the following form haman xar-e siah ast o haman rah-e siah, ‘it is the same black donkey and the same black road,’ both are equiva- lents of the proverb ba har koja keh ravi aseman hamin rang ast, ‘wherever you go, the heaven has the same colour.’ har asiab-e now’i kerr u kerri darad, ‘each new mill has pomp and flash.’ Used when referring to young people who want to show off.

89 One sir is equal to 1,6 of pound avoirdupois. I have translated sir by pound for the sake of fluency. 90 Golestan, ed. Q. Yusofi, Tehran: Sahab, third edition, 1373/1994, p. 156. 91 Divan-e Sana’i, p. 946, g. 253, l. 6. 126 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB estebah ra asiaban mikonad, ‘the miller makes the mistake’ is used by someone who is accused of having made a mistake in his accounts and wants to defend himself. xar-e asiab budan, ‘to be the donkey of the mill’ means to be competent in one’s own work, knowing its twists and turns in order to proceed one’s work. xar-e siah ba asiab nemiravad, ‘a black donkey does not go into a mill,’ means that man should avoid doing something for which there is a great risk of being disgraced. xist keh ba asia bordi, xak nasibat misa, ‘if you bring a brick to the mill, you will receive dust’ refers to any kind of deception and fraud. man az asiab miayam, to migu’i pasta nist, ‘I an returning from the mill while you are saying it is not your turn,’ is used against someone who prefers his own imagination and hearsay information over other people’s personal and actual experiences. ma ra to ba rah-e asia didi? ‘Have you seen us on the road to the mill?’ used when re- proaching someone who gives a false testimony. mesl-e asia kar kardan, ‘to work like a mill,’ means to work hard; its English equivalent might be ‘to work like a slave.’ nadida saxti az ayyam del nagardad narm / keh ru-sefidi-ye gandom ba asia bastast, ‘not experiencing the hardship of life, the heart will not become soft, because the wheat’s hon- esty depends on the mill,’ meaning that man’s heart becomes tender by the hardships of life in the same way that the wheat turns fine and white when it experiences grinding. ris / mu ra dar asia sefid kardan, ‘to have one’s beard / hair white in a mill’ refers to those who despite their age, are still inexperienced and ignorant; used showing disap- proval. ruz-e bi abi ba sas-e mus asiab gardandan, ‘to run the mill by the mouse’s urine’ means to be a swindler trying by any means possible to proceed one’s own work and to draw benefit from it. tu-ye haft asiab yek man ard nadastan, ‘having no 3 kl flour in the seven mills’ to be very poor and mendicant. The seven mills is a metonym for the seven heavens.