Poem #311
English Translation
Persian
I love a youthful face, fresh-risen as the dawn;
From God I prayed for grief, and fortune to be drawn.
عاشقِ رویِ جوانی خوشِ نوخاسته‌ام
وز خدا دولتِ این غم به دعا خواسته‌ام
Lover, rogue, and flirt—I speak it to your face;
Know that many arts adorn my vagrant grace.
عاشق و رِند و نظربازم و می‌گویم فاش
تا بدانی که به چندین هنر آراسته‌ام
My tattered cloak fills me with shame and dark disgrace
for with a hundred tricks I've patched its sorry case.
شَرمَم از خرقهٔ آلودهٔ خود می‌آید
که بر او وصله به صد شُعبده پیراسته‌ام
Burn well for grief, O candle, for I too arise
girded for this work beneath the darkening skies.
خوش بسوز از غَمَش ای شمع
که اینک من نیز هم بدین کار کمربسته و برخاسته‌ام
Lost in wonder, all my work's advantage slipped away
I gained in grief what from my heart and soul I'd pay.
با چُنین حیرتم از دست بِشُد صرفهٔ کار
در غم افزوده‌ام آنچ از دل و جان کاسته‌ام
Like Hafez to the tavern, robed, I wander free
perhaps my new-risen Beloved will embrace me.
همچو حافظ به خرابات رَوَم جامه قبا
بو که در بَر کَشَد آن دلبرِ نوخاسته‌ام
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses self-awareness and devotion. The verse about being 'ashamed of the tainted cloak' on which Hafez has 'adorned patches with a hundred tricks' is a powerful statement. The observation that Hafez has 'added in grief that which he decreased from heart and soul' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of self-awareness and emotional expression makes it very engaging.
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