Poem #128
English Translation
Persian
No beauty in this city can steal my heart away
if Fortune becomes my friend, she'll lead me from this day.
نیست در شهر نگاری که دلِ ما بِبَرَد
بختم ار یار شود رختم از این جا ببرد
Where's a companion drunk enough to generously give
that burned-heart lovers their desires might achieve?
کو حریفی کَشِ سرمست که پیشِ کرمش
عاشقِ سوخته دل نامِ تمنا ببرد
O gardener! You're blind to autumn's coming doom
alas the day the wind will take your fairest bloom.
باغبانا ز خزان بی‌خبرت می‌بینم
آه از آن روز که بادَت گلِ رعنا ببرد
Time's highway robber never sleeps—don't feel secure
if not today, tomorrow he'll take what was yours.
رهزنِ دهر نخفته‌ست مشو ایمن از او
اگر امروز نبرده‌ست که فردا ببرد
I play with fancy's toys in imagination's game
perhaps one with true vision wins the watching's name.
در خیال این همه لُعبَت به هوس می‌بازم
بو که صاحب‌نظری نامِ تماشا ببرد
The knowledge I've gathered through forty years of strife
I fear that drunken narcissus plunders away my life.
علم و فضلی که به چل سال دلم جمع آورد
ترسم آن نرگسِ مستانه به یَغما ببرد
What voice gives the golden calf its mooing sound?
Don't buy her charms—no Samiri steals Moses' white hand profound.
بانگِ گاوی چه صدا بازدهد؟ عشوه مَخر
سامری کیست که دست از یدِ بیضا ببرد؟
Wine's crystal cup blocks the narrow heart's dark way
don't set it down—grief's flood will sweep you away.
جامِ میناییِ مِی سَدِّ رَهِ تنگ‌دلی‌ست
مَنِه از دست که سیلِ غمت از جا ببرد
Though Love's path is ambushed by archers' deadly art
who walks it knowingly gains profit from each dart.
راهِ عشق ار چه کمینگاه کمانداران است
هر که دانسته رَوَد صَرفه ز اَعدا ببرد
Hafez! If the Friend's drunk glance demands your soul entire
clear your house of others—let her claim her own desire.
حافظ! ار جان طلبد غمزهٔ مستانهٔ یار
خانه از غیر بپرداز و بِهِل تا ببرد
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem contains powerful warnings and philosophical statements. The verse about the 'way-robber of the age' not sleeping is a striking image of time's constant threat. The reference to Samiri (a figure from the Quran who led people astray) adds cultural depth. The observation that 'everyone who knowingly goes' on the path of love 'profit from enemies may take' is a profound statement about love's protection. The verse about spending 'all these playthings' in imagination is a statement about the value of real experience. The poem's combination of warnings and insight makes it very engaging.
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