Poem #208
English Translation
Persian
When the weary have needs but no strength to endure
if you deal them injustice, you betray what's knightly and pure.
خستگان را چو طلب باشد و قُوَّت نَبُوَد
گر تو بیداد کنی شرطِ مُروَّت نَبُوَد
We witnessed no harshness from you, and you would not condone
what lies beyond the mystic way the masters make their own.
ما جفا از تو ندیدیم و تو خود نَپْسَندی
آنچه در مذهبِ اربابِ طریقت نبود
Blind is the eye denied the floods of love's lament
dark is the heart where love's bright candle ne'er is bent.
خیره آن دیده که آبش نَبَرَد گریهٔ عشق
تیره آن دل که در او شمعِ محبت نبود
Seek your fortune from the phoenix and its shadow's glow
for crows and ravens never wear prosperity's bright show.
دولت از مرغِ همایون طلب و سایهٔ او
زان که با زاغ و زَغَن شَهپَرِ دولت نبود
If I asked the Magian elder's aid, do not reprove
our sheikh declared the cloister lacks the heart to move.
گر مدد خواستم از پیرِ مُغان عیب مکن
شیخ ما گفت که در صومعه همّت نبود
Where purity is missing, Kaaba, idol-house are one
no blessing lives within a house where innocence is gone.
چون طهارت نَبُوَد کعبه و بتخانه یکیست
نَبُوَد خیر در آن خانه که عصمت نبود
Hafez, train in knowledge and courtesy for the royal hall
whoever lacks good manners is unfit for talk at all.
حافظا علم و ادب ورز که در مجلسِ شاه
هر که را نیست ادب لایقِ صحبت نبود
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem contains profound statements about love and virtue. The verse about the eye that doesn't have water for 'the weeping of love' being 'blind' is a striking statement. The observation that 'the Kaaba and the idol-house' are 'one' when 'purity is not' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of practical advice and mystical insight makes it very engaging.
Related Poems
"O cupbearer, arise and pour the cup, **** put dust on the head of the grief of days"
"Don't seek obedience and covenant and righteousness from me, the drunk **** for I became famous for cup-measuring on the..."
"Go to your own work, O preacher—what is this shouting? **** My heart fell from the path; what has befallen you?"
"Since the end of your tress fell into the hand of the breeze **** the melancholic heart has split in two from grief"