Poem #125
English Translation
Persian
The Witness isn't one with tresses and slender waist
be slave to that face which holds the present moment's grace.
شاهد آن نیست که موییّ و میانی دارد
بندهٔ طلعتِ آن باش که آنی دارد
Though houris and fairies move with grace refined
true beauty and delicacy—that certain one defined.
شیوهٔ حور و پری گرچه لطیف است ولی
خوبی آن است و لطافت که فُلانی دارد
O laughing Rose! Receive my eye's own flowing spring
in hope of you, it holds sweet waters murmuring.
چشمهٔ چشمِ مرا ای گلِ خندان دریاب
که به امّیدِ تو خوش آبِ روانی دارد
Who'll steal beauty's prize from you? The sun itself
a rider who holds reins within its golden wealth.
گوی خوبی که بَرَد از تو؟ که خورشید آن جا
نه سواریست که در دست عِنانی دارد
My words became heart's proof when you believed their call
yes, yes—Love's speech bears its own sign after all.
دل نشان شد سخنم تا تو قبولش کردی
آری آری سخنِ عشق نشانی دارد
Your eyebrow's curve in archery's art supreme
steals from every archer's bow its deadly gleam.
خَمِ ابرویِ تو در صنعتِ تیراندازی
بُرده از دستِ هر آن کس که کمانی دارد
On Love's path, none have truly learned the secret's core
each holds their own suppositions, nothing more.
در رَهِ عشق نشد کَس به یقین محرمِ راز
هر کسی بر حَسَبِ فکر، گُمانی دارد
Don't boast of miracles among the tavern crew
each speech its time, each subtlety its proper venue.
با خرابات نشینان ز کَرامات مَلاف
هر سخن وقتی و هر نکته مکانی دارد
No wise bird builds its nest in gardens fair and bright
where every spring is followed by autumn's blighting night.
مرغِ زیرک نزند در چمنش پرده سرای
هر بهاری که به دنباله، خزانی دارد
Tell claimants: 'Don't sell riddles to Hafez with your art
our pen too has its tongue, its eloquence, its heart.'
مدعی گو لُغَز و نکته به حافظ مفروش
کِلکِ ما نیز زبانی و بیانی دارد
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 7/10. This poem contains statements about beauty and love. The opening verse about the witness not being one who 'hair and waist has' but one who 'moment has' is a profound statement about presence. The observation that 'in the path of love, no one became, with certainty, intimate of the secret' is a striking statement about love's mystery. The verse about 'every spring that in the following, an autumn has' is a profound statement about transience. The poem's combination of philosophical insight and personal expression makes it engaging.
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