From Light to Light to Light

I first came to the poetry of Iqbal through the music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and this couplet from a ghazal [translated by K.C. Kanda] triggers for me a host of reflections on the image of the candle.

The love whose candle can be snuffed by a random gust of death,
Can’t enjoy the thrill of waiting, burning, blazing, all through life.

A similar sentiment is captured in the Taoist adage,

Mieux vaut allumer une bougie que maudire les ténèbres.

Lao-Tseu

And the refrain of a song from 1970 comes to mind

Melanie Safka
Candles in the Rain

Lay down lay down, let it all down
Let your white birds smile up at the
Ones who stand and frown
Lay down lay down, let it all down
Let your white birds smile up at the
Ones who stand and frown

And if collecting such instances is a waste of time…

‘Not worth the candle’ is ultimately of French origin. It appears in Randle Cotgrave’s A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, 1611, where it is listed as: “Le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle.”

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/260900.html

Make a wish. Blow them out.

And so for day 1791
08.11.2011