Ghazal 140 of Hafez (6 couplets), in the original Persian as on Ganjoor, with a transliteration, a plain English translation, the meanings of key words and the traditional fâl-e Hâfez reading.
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COUPLET 1
دلبر بِرَفت و دلشدگان را خبر نکردیادِ حریفِ شهر و رفیقِ سفر نکرد
delbar beraft o delshodegân râ khabar nakard / yâd-e harif-e shahr o rafigh-e safar nakard
The heart-stealer left without telling the lovesick; she did not remember her companion in the town or her friend on the road.
COUPLET 2
یا بختِ من طریقِ مروت فروگذاشتیا او به شاهراهِ طریقت گذر نکرد
yâ bakht-e man tarigh-e morovvat forugozâsht / yâ u be shâhrâh-e tarighat gozar nakard
Either my luck gave up the way of kindness, or she never walked the highway of the spiritual path.
COUPLET 3
گفتم مگر به گریه دلش مهربان کنمچون سخت بود در دلِ سنگش اثر نکرد
goftam magar be gerye delash mehrabân konam / chon sakht bud dar del-e sangash asar nakard
I thought my weeping might make her heart kind; but it was hard, and nothing touched that heart of stone.
COUPLET 4
شوخی مکن که مرغِ دلِ بی‌قرارِ منسودایِ دامِ عاشقی از سر به درنکرد
shukhi makon ke morgh-e del-e bigharâr-e man / sodâ-ye dâm-e âsheghi az sar be dar nakard
Do not make light of it: the bird of my restless heart has never put the longing for love's snare out of its head.
COUPLET 5
هر کس که دید رویِ تو بوسید چشمِ منکاری که کرد دیدهٔ من، بی‌نظر نکرد
har kas ke did ru-ye to busid cheshm-e man / kâri ke kard dide-ye man bi nazar nakard
Everyone who saw your face kissed my eye: whatever my eye did, it did not do without insight.
COUPLET 6
من ایستاده تا کُنَمَش جان فدا چو شمعاو خود گذر به ما چو نسیمِ سحر نکرد
man istâde tâ konamash jân fadâ cho sham' / u khod gozar be mâ cho nasim-e sahar nakard
I stood ready to give my life for her like a candle, but she did not even pass by me as the dawn breeze does.
What this fâl tells you
This ghazal is about someone who went away without a word. Tradition reads it as a sign that your eye was right: what you saw and chose was worth choosing, even if the other side has been slow. Stay faithful without forcing things; hearts soften in their own time.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: nakard. qâfiye: -ar (khabar, safar, gozar, asar, dar, nazar, sahar). Beyt 6 nearly repeats beyt 5 of ghazal 139.
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| delbar | heart-stealer, the beloved dictionary | |
| beraft | went away (رفت) dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| khabar | news dictionary | |
| نکرد | nakard | did not do dictionary |
| یاد | yâd | memory dictionary |
| harif-e | companion of (in drinking) dictionary | |
| shahr | city, town dictionary | |
| rafigh-e | friend, companion of dictionary | |
| safar | journey dictionary | |
| یا | yâ | O (vocative); or dictionary |
| bakht-e | fortune, luck of dictionary | |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| tarigh-e | the way of dictionary | |
| مروت | morovvat | generosity, humane kindness dictionary |
| فروگذاشت | forugozâsht | abandoned, gave up (رها کرد) |
| u | him / her (Persian does not mark gender) dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| shâhrâh-e | the highway of dictionary | |
| tarighat | the (Sufi) path dictionary | |
| گذر | gozar | passage dictionary |
| گفتم | goftam | I said dictionary |
| مگر | magar | perhaps? could it be that? (in questions) dictionary |
| گریه | gerye | weeping dictionary |
| delash | his/her heart dictionary | |
| مهربان | mehrabân | kind dictionary |
| کنم | konam | I make, I do dictionary |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| sakht | very; hard dictionary | |
| bovad | is, will be (old form of bâshad) (باشد) dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| sangash | her (heart of) stone dictionary | |
| asar | effect; asar nakard = had no effect dictionary | |
| shukhi | joking, teasing; shukhi makon = do not jest dictionary | |
| مکن | makon | do not do! (نکن) dictionary |
| مرغ | morgh | bird dictionary |
| bigharâr-e | restless dictionary | |
| sodâ-ye | passion, longing for dictionary | |
| dâm | trap, net dictionary | |
| âsheghi | a lover dictionary | |
| sar | head; sar be kuh dâdan = to send someone off wandering dictionary | |
| هر | har | every dictionary |
| کس | kas | anyone; with negative: no one dictionary |
| did | saw dictionary | |
| ru-ye | face of (ezafe) (چهره) dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| busid | kissed dictionary | |
| چشم | cheshm | eye dictionary |
| kâri | a deed, what (it) did dictionary | |
| کرد | kard | do (with tavân: can do) dictionary |
| dide | eye (چشم) | |
| istâde | standing dictionary | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| کنمش | konamash | I might make for her (jân fadâ kardan = sacrifice one's life) dictionary |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| چو | cho | since, when; like (= chon) (چون) |
| sham' | candle dictionary | |
| khod | self; here "and indeed, after all" dictionary | |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| نسیم | nasim | breeze dictionary |
| sehr | magic dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 140. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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