Poem #253
English Translation
Persian
O you whose face makes life a tulip-bed
return! Without you, life's spring is dead.
ای خُرَّم از فروغِ رُخَت لاله زارِ عمر
بازآ که ریخت بی گُلِ رویت بهارِ عمر
If tears rain from my eyes, let them flow free
for life passed like a lightning flash for me.
از دیده گر سرشک چو باران چِکَد رواست
کاندر غمت چو برق بِشُد روزگارِ عمر
Seize these few breaths when meeting is so near
find our work now, for life is never clear.
این یک دو دَم که مهلتِ دیدار ممکن است
دریاب کارِ ما که نه پیداست کارِ عمر
How long this morning wine and sugar-sleep?
Wake up! Life's choice is slipping to the deep.
تا کی مِی صَبوح و شِکرخوابِ بامداد
هشیار گَرد، هان که گذشت اختیارِ عمر
Yesterday She passed and did not glance our way
poor heart, that saw no profit in the day.
دی در گذار بود و نظر سویِ ما نکرد
بیچاره دل که هیچ ندید از گذارِ عمر
He fears not death's dark ocean, vast and wide
whose life revolves around your mouth's small tide.
اندیشه از محیطِ فنا نیست هر که را
بر نقطهٔ دهانِ تو باشد مدارِ عمر
Ambush awaits on every side we ride
so Life's steed gallops with a broken guide.
در هر طرف ز خیلِ حوادث کمین‌گهیست
زان رو عِنان‌گسسته دَوانَد سوارِ عمر
I live without life, wonder not at this
the day of parting counts as no existence.
بی عمر زنده‌ام من و این بس عجب مدار
روز فِراق را که نَهَد در شمارِ عمر
Hafez, speak now! For on the world's vast page
your pen's design remains from age to age.
حافظ سخن بگوی که بر صفحهٔ جهان
این نقش مانَد از قَلَمَت یادگارِ عمر
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 9/10. This is one of Hafez's most profound poems about time and life. The verse about 'this one or two breaths' when 'the opportunity of meeting is possible' and asking to 'find the work of ours' because 'the work of life is not visible' is a powerful statement. The observation that 'without life, alive I am' and asking not to count 'the day of separation' in 'the count of life' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of urgency and wisdom makes it extremely engaging.