Ghazal 141 of Hafez (7 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
دیدی ای دل که غمِ عشق دگربار چه کرد؟چون بشد دلبر و با یارِ وفادار چه کرد
didi ey del ke gham-e eshgh degarbâr che kard / chon beshod delbar o bâ yâr-e vafâdâr che kard
Did you see, heart, what love's sorrow did once again? How the beloved went away, and what she did to her faithful friend?
COUPLET 2
آه از آن نرگسِ جادو که چه بازی انگیختآه از آن مست که با مردمِ هشیار چه کرد
âh az ân narges-e jâdu ke che bâzi angikht / âh az ân mast ke bâ mardom-e hoshyâr che kard
Alas for that bewitching narcissus eye, what games it stirred up! Alas for that drunken one, what it did to sober people!
COUPLET 3
اشکِ من رنگِ شفق یافت ز بی‌مِهری یارطالعِ بی‌شفقت بین که در این کار چه کرد
ashk-e man rang-e shafagh yâft ze bimehri-ye yâr / tâle'-e bishafaghat bin ke dar in kâr che kard
My tears took on the red of sunset from the beloved's coldness; see what my pitiless star has done in this affair.
COUPLET 4
برقی از منزلِ لیلی بدرخشید سحروَه که با خرمنِ مجنونِ دل‌افگار چه کرد
barghi az manzel-e leyli bedarakhshid sahar / vah ke bâ kharman-e majnun-e del-afgâr che kard
At dawn a lightning flashed from Leyli's dwelling; ah, what it did to the harvest of heartsick Majnun!
COUPLET 5
ساقیا جامِ مِی‌ام دِه که نگارندهٔ غیبنیست معلوم که در پردهٔ اسرار چه کرد
sâghiyâ jâm-e mey-am deh ke negârande-ye gheyb / nist ma'lum ke dar parde-ye asrâr che kard
Cupbearer, give me a cup of wine, for no one knows what the painter of the unseen has done behind the curtain of secrets.
COUPLET 6
آن که پُرنقش زد این دایرهٔ میناییکس ندانست که در گردشِ پرگار چه کرد
ân ke por-naghsh zad in dâyere-ye minâyi / kas nadânest ke dar gardesh-e pargâr che kard
He who drew this blue enamel circle full of patterns: no one has known what he did as his compass turned.
COUPLET 7
فکرِ عشق آتشِ غم در دلِ حافظ زد و سوختیارِ دیرینه ببینید که با یار چه کرد
fekr-e eshgh âtash-e gham dar del-e Hâfez zad o sukht / yâr-e dirine bebinid ke bâ yâr che kard
The thought of love set fire to Hafez's heart and burned it; see what an old friend has done to a friend.
What this fâl tells you
This ghazal asks what love and fate have done, and admits that no one can see behind the curtain. Tradition reads it as advice not to wear yourself out guessing at hidden reasons: what has been drawn by the hand of the unseen will show itself in time. Take the cup of the present moment and wait.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: che kard. qâfiye: -âr (degarbâr, vafâdâr, hoshyâr, kâr, afgâr, asrâr, pargâr, yâr).
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| didi | you saw dictionary | |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| gham | sorrow, grief dictionary | |
| degarbâr | once again (دوباره) dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| کرد | kard | do (with tavân: can do) dictionary |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| beshod | went, passed away (رفت / گذشت) dictionary | |
| delbar | heart-stealer, the beloved dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| یار | yâr | beloved; friend dictionary |
| وفادار | vafâdâr | faithful dictionary |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| نرگس | narges | narcissus (image of the beloved's languid eye) dictionary |
| jâdu | magic; bewitching dictionary | |
| bâzi | game, trick dictionary | |
| angikht | stirred up, raised dictionary | |
| مست | mast | drunk dictionary |
| مردم | mardom-e | people (who are) dictionary |
| هشیار | hoshyâr | sober, alert dictionary |
| ashk-e | tears of dictionary | |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| rang | color dictionary | |
| shafagh | red glow of sunset dictionary | |
| یافت | yâft | find (with nakhâhi: will not find) (پیدا کرد) dictionary |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| tâle'-e | horoscope, star, fortune dictionary | |
| bin | see! (ببین) dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| کار | kâr | work; affair, matter dictionary |
| barghi | a flash of lightning dictionary | |
| منزل | manzel | stopping place, lodging; house dictionary |
| bederakhshid | flashed, shone (درخشید) dictionary | |
| sehr | magic dictionary | |
| kharman | harvest, threshing heap dictionary | |
| مجنون | majnun | Majnun, the lover driven mad by love for Leyli dictionary |
| sâghiyâ | O cupbearer! dictionary | |
| jâm | cup dictionary | |
| می‌ام | mey-am | wine for me (= mey + -am) dictionary |
| deh | give! (= bedeh) (بده) dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| معلوم | ma'lum | known dictionary |
| پردهٔ | parde | curtain, veil dictionary |
| asrâr | secrets dictionary | |
| zad | struck; dam zad = breathed out, shone; âtash zad = set on fire dictionary | |
| dâyere-ye | circle of dictionary | |
| کس | kas | anyone; with negative: no one dictionary |
| ندانست | nadânest | did not know dictionary |
| گردش | gardash | his/her dust (the dust of departure) dictionary |
| پرگار | pargâr | compass (for drawing circles) dictionary |
| فکر | fekr | thought dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| sukht | burned dictionary | |
| dirine | long-standing, old dictionary | |
| bebinid | see! (plural) dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 141. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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