Poem #172
English Translation
Persian
Your love appeared, a sapling of pure wonder's grace
Your union came, perfection of a wonder-filled embrace.
عشقِ تو نهالِ حیرت آمد
وصلِ تو کمالِ حیرت آمد
How many drowned in union's sea, who in the end
Found wonder was the state to which they must descend.
بس غرقهٔ حالِ وصل کآخر
هم بر سرِ حالِ حیرت آمد
Show me a single heart upon this path of pain
That does not bear upon its face wonder's dark stain.
یک دل بنما که در رَهِ او
بر چهره نه خالِ حیرت آمد
Neither the union nor the one united stays
Where wonder's phantom rises in the mystic maze.
نه وصل بِمانَد و نه واصل
آن جا که خیالِ حیرت آمد
From every side I listened, on the wind was blown
The voice of wonder's question, in a haunting tone.
از هر طرفی که گوش کردم
آوازِ سؤالِ حیرت آمد
Defeated by the height of honor he became
That one to whom the glory of wonder came.
شد مُنهَزِم از کمالِ عزّت
آن را که جلالِ حیرت آمد
From head to foot, Hafez's being, in love's art
Became a sapling of wonder growing in the heart.
سر تا قدمِ وجودِ حافظ در عشق
نهالِ حیرت آمد
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem contains profound statements about wonder and love. The repeated theme of 'wonder' creates a powerful mystical atmosphere. The verse about neither 'union' nor 'the uniter' remaining 'where the imagination of wonder came' is a profound statement about transcendence. The observation that 'from every side' the 'voice of the question of wonder came' is a striking image. The poem's combination of mystical depth and structural repetition makes it very engaging.
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