Poem #113
English Translation
Persian
Last night the violet whispered to the rose
A secret that the garden only knows: 'The curl of his dark hair has been my stay, Giving me strength to face the world today.'
بنفشه دوش به گل گفت و خوش نشانی داد
که تابِ من به جهان، طُرِّهٔ فلانی داد
My heart was once a treasury of trust
Where secrets slept in silence and in dust. But Fate decreed the door should be shut tight, And gave the key to her, my sole delight.
دلم خزانهٔ اسرار بود و دستِ قضا
درش بِبَست و کلیدش به دل‌سِتانی داد
Broken and bruised, I came unto your door
A beggar seeking healing, nothing more. The physician of your grace prescribed a cure, A sign of hope to make my heart endure.
شکسته‌وار به درگاهت آمدم، که طبیب
به مومیاییِ لطفِ توام، نشانی داد
May his body be healthy, his heart be light
His spirit happy and his future bright. Who gave a hand to one so weak and low, And helped a faltering friend to rise and go.
تنش درست و دلش شاد باد و خاطر خوش
که دست دادش و یاریِ ناتوانی داد
Go, preach your sermons to some other ear
I have my own physician standing near. Wine and the sweet beloved do no harm, But shield the spirit from the world's alarm.
برو معالجهٔ خود کن ای نصیحت‌گو
شراب و شاهدِ شیرین، که را زیانی داد؟
She passed me by, the poor and humble one
And told my rivals what her love had done: 'Alas for Hafez, poor and destitute, Who gave his soul and reaped this bitter fruit.'
گذشت بر منِ مسکین و با رقیبان گفت
دریغ، حافظِ مسکینِ من، چه جانی داد
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 7/10. This poem contains a dialogue between flowers (violet and rose) creating an engaging narrative structure. The verse about the heart being 'a treasury of secrets' and fate closing its door is a striking image. The observation that wine and the 'sweet witness' gave no harm is a statement about love's acceptance. The final verse's lament that Hafez gave 'what a soul' is poignant. The poem's combination of natural imagery and emotional expression makes it engaging.
Related Poems
"O Cupbearer, circulate the cup and pass it, for love seemed easy at first but difficulties arose."
"If that Turk of Shiraz takes my heart in hand, **** I will give Samarkand and Bukhara for his Hindu mole."
"To the courtiers of the sultan, who will deliver this prayer? **** That in gratitude for kingship, do not drive the begg..."
"O cupbearer, arise and pour the cup, **** put dust on the head of the grief of days"