Poem #2
English Translation
Persian
Where is the path of right, and where is my ruined state?
See the distance between us, how vast and how great!
صلاحِ کار کجا و منِ خراب کجا؟
ببین تفاوتِ رَه کز کجاست تا به کجا
My heart is sick of the cloister and the hypocrite's vest;
where is the Magian temple, and the wine of the best?
دلم ز صومعه بگرفت و خِرقِهٔ سالوس
کجاست دِیرِ مُغان و شرابِ ناب کجا؟
What has the rogue to do with piety and prayer?
Where is the sermon's drone, and the lute's sweet air?
چه نسبت است به رِندی صَلاح و تقوا را؟
سماعِ وَعظ کجا نغمهٔ رَباب کجا؟
What can the enemy see of the Friend's bright face?
Where is the dead lamp, and the Sun's radiant grace?
ز رویِ دوست دلِ دشمنان چه دریابد؟
چراغِ مُرده کجا؟ شمعِ آفتاب کجا؟
Since the dust of your door is the light of my eyes,
where shall I go from here? To what other skies?
چو کُحلِ بینشِ ما خاکِ آستانِ شماست
کجا رَویم بفرما ازین جناب، کجا؟
Look not at the chin's fair apple, for a pit lies near;
where do you run, O heart, in such haste and fear?
مَبین به سیبِ زَنَخدان که چاه در راه است
کجا همی رَوی ای دل بدین شتاب کجا؟
Gone is that time!
May the days of union be blest; where is that coy glance now, and that loving test?
بِشُد! که یادِ خوشش باد روزگارِ وصال
خود آن کِرِشمه کجا رفت و آن عِتاب کجا؟
Ask not Hafez for patience, or sleep, or rest;
what is peace to a heart that is love's possessed?
قرار و خواب ز حافظ طمع مدار ای دوست
قرار چیست صبوری کدام و خواب کجا؟
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem is a study in contrasts (where is this... where is that?). It highlights the vast gulf between the mystic's 'ruined' state (drunk with divine love) and the 'rectitude' of the orthodox. The 'apple of the chin' refers to the dimple, often compared to a pit or well where the lover's heart falls and gets trapped. The 'Magian monastery' is a symbol for the place of spiritual intoxication, contrasting with the dry 'monastery' of the ascetics.