Poem #370
English Translation
Persian
Why ask for righteousness from us, the drunkards of the street?
To your intoxicated eyes, we bow in prayer complete.
صَلاح از ما چه می‌جویی؟ که مستان را صَلا گفتیم
به دورِ نرگسِ مستت سلامت را دعا گفتیم
Open the tavern door for me! The monastery is barred
believe me if you will; if not, this truth is my award.
درِ میخانه‌ام بُگشا که هیچ از خانقه نَگشود
گَرَت باور بُوَد ور نه سخن این بود و ما گفتیم
Your eyes have ruined me, Cupbearer, left me lost and dazed
yet welcome be the misery by such a Hand raised!
من از چشمِ تو ای ساقی خراب افتاده‌ام
لیکن بلایی کز حبیب آید هِزارش مَرحَبا گفتیم
If you forgive me not, my love, regret will be your due
remember well the service that my heart has paid to you.
اگر بر من نَبَخشایی پشیمانی خوری
آخر به خاطر دار این معنی که در خدمت کجا گفتیم
I called your stature 'boxwood tree'—shame falls upon my head
how could I make such poor compare? What slander have I said!
قَدَت گفتم که شمشاد است؛ بس خِجلَت به بار آورد
که این نسبت چرا کردیم و این بُهتان چرا گفتیم
My heart is blood like musk-deer's pod; I merit this and more
for likening your scented tress to musk from China's shore.
جگر چون نافه‌ام خون گشت کم زینم نمی‌باید
جزای آن که با زلفت سخن از چین خطا گفتیم
You turned to fire, O Hafez, but the Friend remained unmoved
tell the Morning Breeze the tale of how the Rose has proved.
تو آتش گشتی ای حافظ ولی با یار درنگرفت
ز بدعهدیِّ گُل گویی حکایت با صبا گفتیم
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses apology and devotion. The verse about saying 'welcome a thousand' to 'calamity that comes from the beloved' is a powerful statement. The observation that Hafez 'became fire' but 'did not take with the friend' and saying 'tale with the morning breeze from the unfaithfulness of the rose' is a striking statement. The poem's combination of apology and devotion makes it very engaging.
Related Poems
"My heart and faith were lost, and the beloved arose in reproach **** saying: 'Don't sit with us, for safety has arisen f..."
"Don't seek obedience and covenant and righteousness from me, the drunk **** for I became famous for cup-measuring on the..."
"When God bound the form of your heart-opening eyebrow **** the opening of my affairs was bound within your coquetries"
"From weeping, the people of my eye are seated in blood **** see how in seeking you the state of people is"