Poem #334
English Translation
Persian
If my hand could reach your tresses once again to hold them tight
like a polo ball how many heads I'd cast before your might.
گر دست رَسَد در سرِ زُلفینِ تو بازم
چون گوی چه سرها که به چوگانِ تو بازم
Your tresses pledge me lifetimes vast beyond compare
yet in my grip I hold not even a single hair.
زلفِ تو مرا عمر دراز است ولی نیست
در دست سرِ مویی از آن عمرِ درازم
Grant ease to this poor moth, O candle bright, tonight
for with heart's flame I melt before you like your light.
پروانهٔ راحت بده ای شمع که امشب
از آتشِ دل پیش تو چون شمع گُدازم
When with a single smile I pour my life like wine
I'd have your drunken lovers offer up my prayer divine.
آن دَم که به یک خنده دَهَم جان چو صُراحی
مستانِ تو خواهم که گُزارَند نمازم
Since my sullied prayer counts not as prayer at all
my burning in the tavern shall not fade or fall.
چون نیست نمازِ منِ آلوده نمازی
در میکده زان کم نَشَوَد سوز و گُدازم
If in mosque or tavern your image fills my gaze
from your twin brows I'll shape the niche and fiddle's raised.
در مسجد و میخانه خیالت اگر آید
محراب و کمانچه ز دو ابرویِ تو سازم
Should you illuminate our tryst one night with your bright face
like morning light I'd raise my head across the world's embrace.
گر خلوتِ ما را شبی از رخ بِفُروزی
چون صبح بر آفاقِ جهان سر بِفَرازم
Praiseworthy ends await me on this path I choose
if in Ayaz-like longing I my head should lose.
محمود بُوَد عاقبتِ کار در این راه
گر سر بِرَوَد در سرِ سودایِ اَیازم
Hafez, with whom shall I speak of my heart's grief once more
when only the cup is fit to guard the secrets that I pour?
حافظ غمِ دل با که بگویم؟ که در این دور
جز جام نشاید که بُوَد محرمِ رازم
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses intense devotion and longing. The verse about making 'the prayer niche and the fiddle from the two eyebrows' if 'the image comes in the mosque and wine-house' is a powerful statement. The reference to Ayaz adds cultural depth. The observation that 'except the cup, it's not fitting that it be the intimate of my secret' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of devotion and emotional expression makes it very engaging.
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