Poem #47
English Translation
Persian
To the tavern's quarter, every traveler who knew the way
knew knocking at another door would lead his soul astray.
به کویِ میکده هر سالِکی که رَه دانست
دری دگر زدن اندیشهٔ تَبَه دانست
Fate crowned with libertine's cap none but the one
who knew the world's true pride beneath this cap begun.
زمانه افسر رندی نداد جز به کسی
که سرفرازیِ عالَم در این کُلَه دانست
Upon the tavern's threshold, all who found the way
from wine cup's grace, the monastery's secrets they survey.
بر آستانهٔ میخانه هر که یافت رَهی
ز فیضِ جامِ مِی اَسرار خانقَه دانست
Who read two worlds' secrets in the wine cup's line
knew Jam's cup's mysteries from dust upon the shrine.
هر آن که رازِ دو عالم ز خطِ ساغَر خواند
رُموزِ جامِ جم از نقشِ خاکِ ره دانست
Seek not the mad ones' piety from us, I say
our Sheikh pronounced the wise man sinful in his way.
ورایِ طاعتِ دیوانگان ز ما مَطَلَب
که شیخِ مذهبِ ما عاقلی گُنَه دانست
My heart sought no safety from the Cupbearer's gaze
it knew that dark-eyed Turk's bewitching ways.
دلم ز نرگسِ ساقی اَمان نخواست به جان
چرا که شیوهٔ آن تُرکِ دل سیه دانست
From Fortune's cruel star, at dawn my eyes did weep
till Venus saw, and the Moon received my sorrow deep.
ز جورِ کوکبِ طالع ،سَحَرگَهان چشمم چنان گریست
که ناهید دید و مَه دانست
The tale of Hafez and his secret cup's refrain
what use for censor, sheriff? The King made it plain.
حدیثِ حافظ و ساغر که می‌زند پنهان
چه جایِ محتسب و شِحنه، پادشَه دانست
High-ranking king who saw the nine celestial halls
mere samples of his court's curved archway walls.
بلندمرتبه شاهی که نُه رِواقِ سِپِهر
نمونه‌ای ز خَمِ طاقِ بارگَه دانست
Cultural Context
US Interest Rank: 7/10. This poem appears to be addressed to a patron (king). The theme of finding spiritual secrets in the wine-house is central to Hafez's philosophy. The reference to Jam's cup (a legendary object) adds mythical resonance. The verse about the sheikh knowing 'a wise one as sinful' is a critique of religious judgment. The poem's structure as praise for the patron may be less engaging for modern readers, but the mystical elements and the idea that the wine-house reveals monastery secrets are thought-provoking. The final verse's grand praise of the king is conventional court poetry.
Related Poems
"That Night of Power that the people of seclusion say is tonight **** O God, in which star is this effect of fortune?"
"In this age, a friend who is free from faults is a wine-flask of pure wine **** and a ship of ghazal"
"Welcome, O messenger of lovers—give the friend's message **** so that I may make my soul a willing sacrifice to the frie..."
"For years the heart sought Jam's cup from us **** while asking strangers for what it already possessed"