Poem #223
English Translation
Persian
Never shall your image fade from my heart and soul's inscribed page
never from my memory shall that graceful cypress disengage.
هرگزم نقشِ تو از لوحِ دل و جان نَرَوَد
هرگز از یادِ من آن سروِ خرامان نَرَوَد
From my bewildered mind, the vision of your mouth so sweet
won't yield to heaven's cruelty or time's grief incomplete.
از دِماغِ مَنِ سرگشته خیالِ دَهَنَت
به جفایِ فلک و غُصهٔ دوران نرود
In pre-eternity my heart was bound to your tresses' tangled crown
till eternity it won't rebel or break the covenant handed down.
در ازل بست دلم با سرِ زلفت پیوند
تا ابد سر نَکشَد، وز سرِ پیمان نرود
All burdens save your grief may leave my poor heart's weary breast
but that dear sorrow from my heart will never find its rest.
هر چه جز بارِ غمت بر دلِ مسکینِ من است
برود از دلِ من وز دلِ من آن نرود
Your love's seal has taken such a place in my heart and soul entire
even if my head departs, from heart and soul it won't retire.
آن چُنان مِهر توام در دل و جان جای گرفت
که اگر سر برود، از دل و از جان نرود
If my heart pursues the beautiful, excuse its restless quest
it suffers pain, what can it do but seek the cure it loves best?
گر رَوَد از پِی خوبان دلِ من معذور است
درد دارد چه کُنَد کز پِی درمان نرود
Whoever wishes not to wander lost like Hafez in love's maze
must not give their heart to beauty or pursue it all their days.
هر که خواهد که چو حافظ نشود سرگردان
دل به خوبان ندهد وز پِی ایشان نرود
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses eternal devotion. The repeated structure of 'will not go' creates a powerful sense of permanence. The verse about the heart being bound 'with the head of your tress' 'in eternity' and not pulling 'head' 'until eternity' is a profound statement. The observation that 'if head goes, from the heart and from the soul' the seal 'will not go' is a striking statement. The poem's combination of permanence and emotional expression makes it very engaging.
Related Poems
"O Cupbearer, circulate the cup and pass it, for love seemed easy at first but difficulties arose."
"If that Turk of Shiraz takes my heart in hand, **** I will give Samarkand and Bukhara for his Hindu mole."
"To the courtiers of the sultan, who will deliver this prayer? **** That in gratitude for kingship, do not drive the begg..."
"O cupbearer, arise and pour the cup, **** put dust on the head of the grief of days"