Ghazal 19 of Hafez (9 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
ای نسیمِ سحر آرامگَهِ یار کجاست؟منزلِ آن مَهِ عاشق‌کُشِ عَیّار کجاست؟
ey nasim-e sahar ârâmgah-e yâr kojâ-st? / manzel-e ân mah-e âshegh-kosh-e ayyâr kojâ-st?
O breeze of dawn, where does my friend rest? Where is the home of that clever moon who slays lovers?
COUPLET 2
شبِ تار است و رَهِ وادیِ اَیمَن در پیشآتشِ طور کجا موعدِ دیدار کجاست؟
shab-e târ ast o rah-e vâdi-ye ayman dar pish / âtash-e tur kojâ, mow'ed-e didâr kojâ-st?
The night is dark and the road through the Valley of Ayman lies ahead. Where is the fire of Sinai? Where is the promised meeting?
COUPLET 3
هر که آمد به جهان نقشِ خرابی دارددر خرابات بگویید که هُشیار کجاست؟
har ke âmad be jahân naghsh-e kharâbi dârad / dar kharâbât beguyid ke hoshyâr kojâ-st?
Everyone who came into the world bears the stamp of ruin. Ask in the tavern: where is anyone sober?
COUPLET 4
آن‌کس است اهلِ بشارت که اشارت داندنکته‌ها هست بسی مَحرمِ اسرار کجاست؟
ân kas ast ahl-e beshârat ke eshârat dânad / nokte-hâ hast basi, mahram-e asrâr kojâ-st?
Good news belongs to those who understand hints. There are many fine points: where is someone to trust with secrets?
COUPLET 5
هر سرِ مویِ مرا با تو هزاران کار استما کجاییم و مَلامت‌گرِ بی‌کار کجاست؟
har sar-e mu-ye marâ bâ to hezârân kâr ast / mâ kojâyim o malâmatgar-e bikâr kojâ-st?
Every tip of every hair on me has a thousand things to do with you. How far we are from the idle critic!
COUPLET 6
باز پرسید ز گیسویِ شِکَن در شِکَنَشکاین دلِ غم‌زده سرگشته گرفتار کجاست؟
bâz porsid ze gisu-ye shekan dar shekanash / k-in del-e ghamzade sargashte gereftâr kojâ-st?
Ask once more of those curls, twist upon twist: where is this grieving heart, lost and captive?
COUPLET 7
عقل دیوانه شد آن سلسلهٔ مُشکین کو؟دل ز ما گوشه گرفت ابرویِ دلدار کجاست؟
aghl divâne shod, ân selsele-ye meshkin ku? / del ze mâ gushe gereft, abru-ye deldâr kojâ-st?
Reason has gone mad: where is that musky chain? The heart has withdrawn into a corner: where is the beloved's arched brow?
COUPLET 8
ساقی و مُطرب و مِی جمله مُهَیّاست ولیعیش بی‌یار مُهیّا نشود یار کجاست؟
sâghi o motreb o mey jomle mohayyâ-st vali / eysh bi yâr mohayyâ nashavad, yâr kojâ-st?
Cupbearer, musician and wine are all ready, but joy is not ready without the friend. Where is the friend?
COUPLET 9
حافظ از بادِ خزان در چمنِ دَهر مَرَنجفکرِ معقول بفرما گُلِ بی‌خار کجاست؟
Hâfez az bâd-e khazân dar chaman-e dahr maranj / fekr-e ma'ghul befarmâ, gol-e bi khâr kojâ-st?
Hafez, do not be hurt by the autumn wind in the garden of the world. Think sensibly: where is a rose without thorns?
What this fâl tells you
You are searching in the dark for a sign, like a traveler looking for a light on the road. Tradition reads this fal as a promise that the light exists, but everything is ready except the one thing your heart needs. Be patient with small hurts: there is no rose without thorns.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: kojâ-st ("where is?"). qâfiye: -âr (yâr, ayyâr, didâr, hoshyâr, asrâr, bikâr, gereftâr, deldâr, khâr). Beyt 2 recalls Moses seeing the fire on Mount Sinai in the valley of Ayman.
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| نسیم | nasim | breeze dictionary |
| sehr | magic dictionary | |
| ârâmgah | resting place (آرامگاه) | |
| یار | yâr | beloved; friend dictionary |
| منزل | manzel | stopping place, lodging; house dictionary |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| مه | mah | moon (= mâh) (ماه) |
| shab | night dictionary | |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| rah | road, way (short for râh) (راه) | |
| وادی | vâdi | valley; vâdi-ye ayman = the holy valley where Moses saw the fire dictionary |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| پیش | pish | in the eyes of, for dictionary |
| کجا | kojâ | where; how? (rhetorical) dictionary |
| didâr | face; meeting dictionary | |
| هر | har | every dictionary |
| âmad | came dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| jahân | world dictionary | |
| نقش | naghsh | image, shape dictionary |
| dârad | has; (with arze) shows dictionary | |
| beguyid | say! ask! (plural) dictionary | |
| هشیار | hoshyâr | sober, alert dictionary |
| ahl | people (of) dictionary | |
| beshârat | good news (مژده) | |
| eshârat | a sign, signal (اشاره) | |
| dânad | knows dictionary | |
| نکته‌ها | nokte-hâ | subtle points dictionary |
| هست | hast | there is dictionary |
| asrâr | secrets dictionary | |
| sar | head; sar be kuh dâdan = to send someone off wandering dictionary | |
| موی | mu-ye | hair of dictionary |
| مرا | marâ | me; for me (= man râ) (من را / برای من) |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| هزاران | hezârân | thousands dictionary |
| کار | kâr | work; affair, matter dictionary |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| کجاییم | kojâyim | where are we dictionary |
| bikâr | idle, with nothing to do dictionary | |
| bâz | again dictionary | |
| پرسید | porsid | ask! (plural) dictionary |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| shekan-e | the curl, fold of dictionary | |
| shekanash | its twist, its curl dictionary | |
| کاین | k-in | that these (= ke in) (که این) |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| گرفتار | gereftâr | caught, captive dictionary |
| aghl | reason, intellect dictionary | |
| divâne | madman dictionary | |
| shod | become (with khâhad: will become); became dictionary | |
| selsele | chain dictionary | |
| کو | ku | street (کوی) dictionary |
| گوشه | gushe | corner dictionary |
| گرفت | gereft | took; gushe gereft = withdrew dictionary |
| abru-ye | eyebrow of dictionary | |
| sâghi | cupbearer dictionary | |
| mey | wine (شراب) dictionary | |
| jomle | all (همه) dictionary | |
| مهیاست | mohayyâ-st | is ready (= mohayyâ ast) dictionary |
| vali | but dictionary | |
| eysh | pleasure, enjoyment dictionary | |
| نشود | nashavad | does not become dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| bâd | wind dictionary | |
| khazân | autumn (پاییز) dictionary | |
| چمن | chaman | meadow, lawn dictionary |
| dahr | time, the world, fate dictionary | |
| مرنج | maranj | do not be hurt! (نرنج) dictionary |
| فکر | fekr | thought dictionary |
| معقول | ma'ghul | reasonable, sensible dictionary |
| befarmâ | please tell; command dictionary | |
| گل | gol | rose; flower dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 19. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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