Poem #11
English Translation
Persian
Cupbearer, light the cup with wine's bright fire!
Minstrel, sing out! The world obeys our desire!
ساقی به نورِ باده برافروز جامِ ما
مطرب بگو که کارِ جهان شُد به کامِ ما
Within the cup I see the Friend's own face,
O you who know not our wine's constant grace.
ما در پیاله عکس رخِ یار دیده‌ایم
ای بی‌خبر ز لَذَّتِ شُربِ مُدامِ ما
He never dies whose heart is live with love;
our name is written in the books above.
هرگز نمیرد آن که دلش زنده شد به عشق
ثبت است بر جَریدهٔ عالم دوامِ ما
The tall ones strut and show their airs in vain,
until our Cypress moves across the plain.
چندان بُوَد کرشمه و نازِ سَهی‌قدان
کآید به جلوه سروِ صنوبرخَرامِ ما
O Breeze, if you should pass where friends abide,
give this message to the One we hide.
ای باد اگر به گُلشنِ اَحباب بُگذری
زِنهار، عَرضه دِه بَرِ جانان پیامِ ما
Say: 'Why do you forget my name by choice?
A time will come when silence takes my voice.'
گو نامِ ما زِ یاد به عمدا چه می‌بری؟
خود آید آن که یاد نیاری ز نامِ ما
Drunkenness pleases our Beloved's eye,
and so to wine, our reins they tie.
مستی به چشمِ شاهدِ دلبندِ ما خوش است
زآن رو سپرده‌اند به مستی زمامِ ما
I fear the Sheikh's lawful bread will gain no more,
than our forbidden water, on that shore.
ترسم که صَرفه‌ای نَبَرَد روزِ بازخواست
نانِ حلالِ شیخ ز آبِ حرامِ ما
Hafez, let fall a tear-grain from your eye,
perhaps the Bird of Union will fly nigh.
حافظ ز دیده دانهٔ اشکی همی‌فشان
باشد که مُرغِ وصل کُند قصدِ دامِ ما
The green sea of the sky, the moon's boat too,
are drowned in Haji Qavam's bounty through and through.
دریای اَخضَرِ فَلَک و کَشتی هِلال هستند
غرقِ نعمتِ حاجی‌قوامِ ما
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 9/10. The line 'He whose heart has come alive with love never dies' is one of the most quoted verses in Persian literature, often inscribed on tombstones (including Hafez's own). The poem celebrates the immortality of the lover. The reference to 'Haji Qavam' is a panegyric to a patron, a common feature in ghazals, linking the cosmic order to the patron's generosity.
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