Poem #306
English Translation
Persian
If I may reach the quarter where you dwell,
My work of union shall succeed full well.
اگر به کویِ تو باشد مرا مَجالِ وصول
رَسَد به دولتِ وصلِ تو کارِ من به اصول
Those two bright Narcissus eyes have stolen rest from me;
Those kohl-rimmed enchantments hold no remedy.
قرار برده ز من آن دو نرگسِ رَعنا
فَراغ برده ز من آن دو جادو‌یِ مَکحول
A beggar at your door, without a coin or might,
I find no way to exit, nor to enter right.
چو بر درِ تو منِ بینوا‌یِ بی زر و زور
به هیچ باب ندارم رَهِ خروج و دُخول
Where shall I go? What shall I do? Where seek relief?
Worn weary by the world's oppressive grief.
کجا رَوَم چه کنم چاره از کجا جویم؟
که گَشته‌ام ز غم و جورِ روزگار مَلول
I, broken and forlorn, find life at last,
When slain by sorrow's sword that you have cast.
منِ شکستهٔ بدحال زندگی یابم
در آن زمان که به تیغِ غَمَت شَوَم مَقتول
Your grief found nowhere more ruined than my heart,
Where it has made its dwelling, ne'er to part.
خراب‌تر ز دلِ من غمِ تو جای نیافت
که ساخت در دلِ تنگم قرار‌گاهِ نزول
The heart, with jewels of your love burnished bright,
Is polished free from fortune's tarnishing blight.
دل از جواهرِ مِهر‌ت چو صیقلی دارد
بُوَد ز زنگِ حوادث هر آینه مَصقول
What crime have I committed, soul and heart,
That my devotion finds no grace to impart?
چه جرم کرده‌ام؟ ای جان و دل، به حضرتِ تو
که طاعتِ منِ بیدل نمی‌شود مَقبول
Accept love's pain and hush, O Hafez, still your tongue;
Speak not of love's sweet secrets when the wise are among.
به دَردِ عشق بساز و خموش کن حافظ
رموزِ عشق مَکُن فاش پیشِ اهلِ عقول
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses suffering and devotion. The verse about the heart being 'more ruined' than anything else and the grief of the beloved making 'the resting-place of descent in my narrow heart' is a powerful statement. The observation that 'the heart from the jewels of your love' is 'like polished' and 'will be from the rust of events, every mirror, polished' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of suffering and devotion makes it very engaging.
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