Poem #405
English Translation
Persian
By the tavern Elder's soul, and by our bond of company,
No thought is in this head of mine, save serving him eternally.
به جان پیر خرابات و حق صحبت او
که نیست در سر من جز هوای خدمت او
Though Paradise is not the place for sinners or the drunkard's cry,
Bring wine! For on His mercy's will and boundless grace do I rely.
بهشت اگر چه نه جای گناهکاران است
بیار باده که مستظهرم به همت او
Bright be the lightning of that Cloud which flashed across my darkened sky,
And set the harvest of my heart ablaze with Love's intensity.
چراغ صاعقه آن سحاب روشن باد
که زد به خرمن ما آتش محبت او
If at the tavern door you see a head bowed low in dust and grime,
Don't spurn it with your foot; you know not what high purpose dwells in time.
بر آستانه میخانه گر سری بینی
مزن به پای که معلوم نیست نیت او
Come! For last night, in drunken trance, the angel of the Unseen Sphere
Brought tidings that His Mercy's grace encompasses both far and near.
بیا که دوش به مستی سروش عالم غیب
نوید داد که عام است فیض رحمت او
Look not on me, the drunkard lost, with eyes of scorn or cold disdain;
No sin nor virtue comes to pass but by His Will and sovereign reign.
مکن به چشم حقارت نگاه در من مست
که نیست معصیت و زهد بی مشیت او
My heart desires no hermit's cell, no path of dull repentance now;
But for the Master's sake we strive, and to his royal fortune bow.
نمی‌کند دل من میل زهد و توبه ولی
به نام خواجه بکوشیم و فر دولت او
Hafez's old cloak is ever pawned to pay for wine in tavern gloom;
Perhaps the dust of tavern floors was kneaded in his clay and doom.
مدام خرقه حافظ به باده در گرو است
مگر ز خاک خرابات بود فطرت او
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses devotion to the elder of the wine-house and mysticism. The verse about the angel of the unseen world giving 'good news that the grace of mercy is general' when 'intoxicated last night' is a powerful statement. The observation that Hafez's 'cloak is always in pledge to wine' perhaps because 'the nature was from the earth of the wine-houses' is a profound statement. The poem's combination of devotion and mysticism makes it very engaging.
Related Poems
"Disheveled tresses and accustomed and laughing-lipped and drunk **** torn shirt and ghazal-singing and wine-flask in han..."
"Your tress tied a thousand hearts to a single hair **** it blocked the way of a thousand remedy-makers from four directi..."
"Rose in hand and wine in hand and beloved at desire **** I am sultan of the world, on such a day I am a slave"
"Welcome, O messenger of lovers—give the friend's message **** so that I may make my soul a willing sacrifice to the frie..."