Poem #400
English Translation
Persian
My tall, playful, and cunning Beloved
has cut short my long tale of asceticism.
بالابلندِ عِشْوِه‌گرِ نقش‌بازِ من
کوتاه کرد قصّهٔ زُهْدِ درازِ من
Did you see, O heart, what my lover-playing eye did to me
at the end of my age, my piety, and my learning?
دیدی دلا که آخرِ پیری و زُهْد و عِلْم
با من چه کَرْد دیدهٔ معشوقه‌بازِ من؟
I fear the ruin of my faith
for the prayer-niche of your eyebrow steals the presence of my prayer.
می‌ترسم از خرابیِ ایمان که می‌بَرَد
مِحْرابِ ابرویِ تو، حُضورِ نمازِ من
I said I would hide the sign of love beneath this hypocritical cloak
but my tears were the informer, and revealed my secret.
گفتم به دَلْقِ زَرْق بپوشم نشانِ عشق
غَمّاز بود اَشْک و عَیان کرد رازِ من
The Friend is drunk and remembers not the companions
may her name be blessed, my poor-cherishing Cupbearer.
مست است یار و یادِ حریفان نمی‌کُنَد
ذکرش به خیر، ساقیِ مِسْکین‌نوازِ من
O Lord, when will that morning breeze blow
whose scent will make her kindness the remedy of my work?
یا رب کی آن صبا بِوَزَد کز نسیمِ آن
گَرْدَد شمامهٔ کَرَمَش، کارسازِ من؟
I paint a picture on water with my tears
how long until my metaphor becomes the companion of Truth?
نقشی بر آب می‌زنم از گریه، حالیا
تا کی شود قرینِ حقیقت، مجازِ من
Like a candle, I weep while laughing at myself
what effect has my burning and melting on your heart of stone?
بر خود، چو شمع، خنده‌زنان، گریه می‌کنم
تا با تو سنگ‌دل چه کُنَد سوز و سازِ من؟
O ascetic, since your prayer achieves nothing
let me try my nightly intoxication and my secret supplication.
زاهد؛ چو از نمازِ تو کاری نمی‌رود
هم مستیِ شبانه و راز و نیازِ من
Hafez has burned with weeping; tell his state, O breeze
to my King, the nurturer of friends and the melter of foes.
«حافظ»، زِ گریه سوخت بگو حالش ای صبا
با شاهِ دوست‌پرورِ دشمن‌گُدازِ من
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses suffering and plea. The verse about the 'tall coquetry-doing design-playing' making 'short the tale of long asceticism' is a powerful statement. The observation that Hafez 'strikes a design on water from weeping' and asking 'until when will the metaphor become companion of truth' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of suffering and plea makes it very engaging.