Poem #412
English Translation
Persian
My eye weeps blood because it bends before that Bow-Eyebrow's might;
The world shall see great tumult rise from that fierce eye and brow of light.
مرا چشمی‌ست خون‌افشان ز دست آن کمان‌ابرو
جهان بس فتنه خواهد دید از آن چشم و از آن ابرو
I am the slave of that Turk's eye as she in drunken slumber lies;
Her face becomes a painted garden, her brow the dark pavilion skies.
غلام چشم آن ترکم که در خوابِ خوشِ مستی
نگارین گلشنش روی است و مشکین سایبان ابرو
My body wanes to crescent-thin in grief for her imperial brow;
What Moon would dare to show an arc like that in Heaven even now?
هلالی شد تنم زین غم که با طغرا‌ی ابرو‌یش
که باشد مه که بنماید ز طاق آسمان ابرو؟
The rivals do not know, but we from eye and brow perceive
A thousand secret messages the arching eyebrow loves to weave.
رقیبان غافل و ما را از آن چشم و جبین
هر دم هزاران گونه پیغام است و حاجب در میان، ابرو
Her forehead is a wondrous garden for the recluse soul at rest;
Along its jasmine meadow's edge her strolling eyebrow shows its crest.
روانِ گوشه‌گیران را جبینش طرفه گلزار‌ی‌ست
که بر طرْف سمن‌زارش همی گردد چمان ابرو
None call a houri or a fairy blessed with so much grace;
For who could boast an eye like hers or brow of such embrace?
دگر حور و پری را کس نگوید با چنین حسنی
که این را این چنین چشم است و آن را آن چنان ابرو
You cruel infidel! You never veil the torrent of your veil;
I fear your eyebrow's curving bow will make my prayer-niche twist and fail.
تو کافر‌دل نمی‌بندی نقاب زلف و می‌ترسم
که محرابم بگرداند خم آن دل‌ستان ابرو
Though Hafez was a clever bird, well-schooled in loyal art,
The eye of that Bow-Eyebrow shot a glance straight through his heart.
اگر چه مرغ زیرک بود حافظ در هوادار‌ی
به تیر غمزه صیدش کرد چشم آن کمان‌ابرو
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses the power of the beloved's eye and eyebrow. The verse about the body becoming 'crescent from this grief' and asking 'who will be the moon that may show from the arch of the sky the eyebrow' is a powerful statement. The observation that Hafez was 'hunted with the arrow of coquetry by the eye of that bow-eyebrow' even though he was 'a clever bird in support' is a striking statement. The poem's combination of beauty imagery and devotion makes it very engaging.
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