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The Real Meaning of Love — A Sufi Love Poem by Attar
The Real Meaning of Love (Poetry Reading & Commentary)
In truth, we are all like three butterflies.
In the world of lovers, we are but a fairytale.
The first type of butterfly approached the candle, and said,
“I have now found the meaning of love.”
The second type went further
And batted its wings near the flame, saying
“I have burned in the flames of love.”
The third one went and tossed its self completely into the fire
Indeed, this was the real meaning of love.
~ Fariduddin Attar of Nishapur
Attar starts this poem by comparing us all to three different types of “Parwana” (Farsi: a moth or butterfly).
But before he explains what type of butterflies we are, he states that we are just a fairytale in the world of lovers. This is a world where the yearning soul is madly in love with the Creator and dedicates every moment of their life in remembrance of their Beloved. It’s a world in which reason falls by the wayside and the lovers themselves appear like lunatics.
Surely, to us they seem crazy, but that’s because we do not understand the impassioned state that they are in. Probably from their vantage point, we are the crazy ones, blindly unaware of our true reality and endlessly chasing the things of this material world.
