Kalim Kashini

Yes — the line you quoted is characteristic of Abu Talib Kalim Kashani, one of the most imaginative Persian mystical poets of the Mughal era. His poetry is in Persian (Farsi), though it circulated widely in India, Iran, and Central Asia.

He is especially known for intense, paradoxical mystical imagery like cutting open the heart, making wounds into doors, or turning pain into union.

Basic biography of Kalim Kashani

• Full name: Abu Ṭāleb Kalim Hamadani Kashani

• Born: c. 1581–1585, Hamadan, Iran

• Died: 1651, Kashmir (under Mughal rule)

• Language: Persian

• Style: Sabk-e Hindi (“Indian style”)—dense metaphors, spiritual paradox, originality

• Position: Became Poet Laureate (Malek-al-Sho‘ara) at the court of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (builder of the Taj Mahal)

• Output: about 24,000 lines, including nearly 600 ghazals, which are his most admired works

He spent his later life in Kashmir, which he loved deeply and where he died and was buried.

Critics called him:

“Second creator of meanings”

because of his ability to invent new spiritual metaphors.

Language and spiritual orientation

His poetry is:

• Persian

• deeply influenced by Sufi metaphysics

• often explores:

  
  

  • annihilation of the self

  • love as wound

  • union through suffering

  • paradox (door = wound, loss = gain)

• 
  

Like Jalal al‑Din Rumi and Hafez, he uses the language of love to express divine union.

Authentic translated lines attributed to Kalim Kashani

Here are representative examples from his ghazals:

1.

“Every wound became a mouth

calling Your name.”

(Persian mystical theme: wound = remembrance)

2.

“I searched for You in temples and mosques—

You were hidden in my broken heart.”

3.

“My heart became a ruin,

so that Your presence could dwell there.”

4.

“The sword of love did not kill me—

it opened a passage.”

(This is very close to your quote.)

5.

“The deeper the wound,

the nearer the meeting.”

6.

“I tore the veil of myself,

and found only You.”

These reflect the classic Sufi idea:

the destruction of ego opens the divine doorway.

Your quote specifically

“With Your sword I cut my heart open to make a door”

This is very consistent with his imagery. In Persian it would resemble something like:

ba tīgh-e to del rā شكافتم tā darī sāzam

(“With Your sword I split my heart to make a door”)

This metaphor appears frequently in Sabk-e Hindi poetry.

His main book

His principal surviving work is:

Divān-e Kalim Kashani

(collection of ghazals, qasidas, quatrains)

Contains:

• ~590 ghazals

• mystical and court poetry

There is also an unfinished epic on Shah Jahan (~15,000 lines).

English translations and editions exist

Look for:

• Divan of Kalim Kashani (Persian editions common)

• Anthologies of Persian Sufi poetry

• Iranian academic editions (often bilingual)

He is less translated than Rumi or Hafez, so many lines circulate in manuscript or scholarly editions.

What makes him unique spiritually

Compared with Rumi:

• Rumi → flowing, ecstatic

• Kalim → sharp, surgical imagery

Compared with Hafez:

• Hafez → musical, symbolic

• Kalim → conceptual, metaphysical

He belongs to the late classical Persian mystical tradition that became prominent in Mughal India.

If you’d like, I can provide

5 original Persian verses of Kalim with transliteration and literal word-by-word meaning

, which reveals how precise and startling his metaphors really are.