Poem #35
English Translation
Persian
Go tend your work, O Preacher; why this urgent sound?
My heart has strayed from the path—what loss have you now found?
برو به کارِ خود ای واعظ این چه فریادست
مرا فتاد دل از ره، تو را چه افتادست؟
Between the one God shaped from naught there lies, concealed
a subtle knot no creature yet has loosed or unsealed.
میانِ او که خدا آفریده است از هیچ
دقیقه‌ایست که هیچ آفریده نَگشادست
Until her lips bestow the taste for which I plead
the counsel of the world is empty wind, a reed.
به کام تا نرساند مرا لبش، چون نای
نصیحتِ همه عالم به گوشِ من بادست
The beggar of your street needs none of heaven's eightfold store
the prisoner of your love stands free of both worlds' shore.
گدایِ کویِ تو از هشت خُلد مستغنیست
اسیرِ عشقِ تو از هر دو عالم آزادست
Though Love's deep drunkenness has cast my world aside
that ruin is the base on which my being does abide.
اگر چه مستیِ عشقم خراب کرد ولی
اساسِ هستیِ من زان خراب آبادست
O heart, don't chide the Beloved's cruelty or the scars
this share the Darling gave you comes from justice, not from wars.
دلا منال ز بیداد و جورِ یار که یار
تو را نصیب همین کرد و این از آن دادست
Go, Hafez—leave the fables be and let the spells all rest
for countless recollections from such magic fill my breast.
برو فسانه مخوان و فسون مدم حافظ
کز این فسانه و افسون مرا بسی یادست
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem contains powerful philosophical statements. The verse 'the beggar of your quarter is self-sufficient from the eight paradises—the captive of your love is free from both worlds' is a profound paradox about love's power to both enrich and liberate. The line 'although the intoxication of my love ruined me, yet the foundation of my existence, from that ruin, is prosperous' expresses a deep truth about transformation through love. The dismissal of the preacher and worldly advice is bold. The poem's defense of love's value over conventional wisdom is universal and resonates strongly with Western audiences.
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