اس محفل کیف و مستی میں اس انجمن عرفانی میں
سب جام بکف بیٹھے ہی رہے ہم پی بھی گئے چھلکا بھی گئے
اسرار الحق مجاز –
Is mahfil-e-kaif-o-masti mein, is anjuman-e-irfaani mein
sab jaam bakf baithe hi rahe, ham pee bhi gaye, chalka bhi gaye
– Asrarul Haq Majaz
इस महफ़िले क़ैफ़-व-मस्ती में, इस अंजुमने-ऐ- इर्फ़ानी में
सब जाम बक़फ़ बैठे ही रहे, हम पी भी गये, छलका भी गये
– असरार-उल-हक़ मजाज़
Photo: Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In this assembly of joy and intoxication and at the congregation of enlighted men
everyone sat with wine glasses in their hand while I drank mine and spilled it too
I see this sher in the light of getting intoxicated by acquiring knowledge. Especially when there is a gathering of intellectuals and scientists. Here is a rare photo of Physicists: from left to right – W. Nernst, A. Einstein, M. Planck, R.A. Millikan, and von Laue at a dinner given by von Laue in Berlin on 11 November 1931