SAQI: An Arabic/Persian/Urdu word which is used for the person who quenches the thirst of the thirsty ones with drink. The drink can be water, juice or wine. The saqi can be a man or a woman. Over the centuries Arabic, Persian, Urdu and even Hindi poets especially the likes of Omar Khayyam of Iran, have romanticized the word in their poetry and now it is exlusively used for a veiled woman with graceful form and figure, good manners, courteous generosity and blessed with beautiful, intoxicating eyes.
The saqi also refers to God and His prophets and their devout followers. It also refers to God Almighty too in its loftiest sense and meaning.
The reader of poems with eastern touch and nuances should always keep in mind that the way the poet/poets use the word in their poem should be considered in the meaning he/they want to convey as a part of the theme and message of their poetry.
Similarly the tavern is also used with several different meanings and the reader will have to consider and analyse the entirety of the poem while seeking to interpret the term. The bar can never be a tavern. I have been to both ...bars and taverns in the east and the west so I believe I can safely assert that a tavern can never be a bar.
