Poem #465
English Translation
Persian
At dawn I sought the garden for a rose
when sudden song from the nightingale arose.
رفتم به باغ صبحدمی تا چنم گلی
آمد به گوش ناگهم آواز بلبلی
Poor bird! Like me, enslaved by love's decree
his cries of passion shook the garden tree.
مسکین چو من به عشق گلی گشته مبتلا
و اندر چمن فکنده ز فریاد غلغلی
I wandered on, observing as I went
on rose and bird my thoughtful gaze was bent.
می‌گشتم اندر آن چمن و باغ دم به دم
می‌کردم اندر آن گل و بلبل تاملی
The rose was beauty's queen, the bird love's thrall
no grace for him, no change for her at all.
گل یار حسن گشته و بلبل قرین عشق
آن را تفضلی نه و این را تبدلی
The singer's voice so pierced my heavy heart
that patience fled and tore my soul apart.
چون کرد در دلم اثر آواز عندلیب
گشتم چنان که هیچ نماندم تحملی
Many a rose within this garden blooms
but who plucks joy without the thorn's sharp dooms?
بس گل شکفته می‌شود این باغ را ولی
کس بی بلای خار نچیده‌ست از او گلی
Hafez, expect no mercy from the sky
the wheel has faults, and passes virtues by.
حافظ مدار امید فرج از مدار چرخ
دارد هزار عیب و ندارد تفضلی
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 8/10. This poem expresses observation and wisdom. The verse about 'much rose blooms in this garden, but no one has picked a rose from it without the affliction of the thorn' is a powerful statement. The observation that Hafez is told 'don't have hope of relief from the orbit of the turning, it has a thousand faults and does not have favor' is a striking statement. The poem's combination of observation and wisdom makes it very engaging.
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