Ghazal 197 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
شاهدان گر دلبری زین سان کنندزاهدان را رخنه در ایمان کنند
shâhedân gar delbari z-in sân konand / zâhedân râ rakhne dar imân konand
If the beauties go on charming hearts like this, they will break a breach in the ascetics' faith.
COUPLET 2
هر کجا آن شاخِ نرگس بِشْکُفدگُل‌رُخانَش دیده نرگس‌دان کنند
har kojâ ân shâkh-e narges beshkofad / gol-rokhânash dide narges-dân konand
Wherever that narcissus stem blooms, the rose-cheeked ones make their eyes into vases to hold it.
COUPLET 3
ای جوانِ سَروقَد! گویی بِبَرپیش از آن کز قامتت چوگان کنند
ey javân-e sarv-ghad gu'i bebar / pish az ân k-az ghâmatat chowgân konand
O young one, tall as a cypress, win the ball now, before your straight stature is bent into a polo stick.
COUPLET 4
عاشقان را بر سرِ خود حُکم نیستهر چه فرمانِ تو باشد آن کنند
âsheghân râ bar sar-e khod hokm nist / har che farmân-e to bâshad ân konand
Lovers have no command over themselves: whatever you order, they do.
COUPLET 5
پیشِ چشمم کمتر است از قطره‌ایاین حکایت‌ها که از طوفان کنند
pish-e cheshmam kamtar ast az ghatre'i / in hekâyat-hâ ke az tufân konand
To my weeping eyes, all these tales they tell of the Flood are less than a single drop.
COUPLET 6
یارِ ما چون گیرد آغازِ سَماعقُدسیان بر عرش دست‌افشان کنند
yâr-e mâ chon girad âghâz-e samâ' / ghodsiyân bar arsh dast-afshân konand
When our beloved begins the sacred dance, the angels on the highest heaven wave their hands and join in.
COUPLET 7
مردمِ چشمم به خون آغشته شددر کجا این ظلم بر انسان کنند؟
mardom-e cheshmam be khun âghashte shod / dar kojâ in zolm bar ensân konand
The pupil of my eye is soaked in blood: where else would anyone treat a human being so unjustly?
COUPLET 8
خوش برآ با غصه، ای دل! کاَهلِ رازعیشِ خوش در بوتهٔ هجران کنند
khosh barâ bâ ghosse ey del k-ahl-e râz / eysh-e khosh dar bute-ye hejrân konand
Make your peace with sorrow, O heart, for those who know the secret find their sweetest joy in the crucible of separation.
COUPLET 9
سر مکش حافظ ز آهِ نیم‌شبتا چو صبحت، آینه رخشان کنند
sar makesh Hâfez ze âh-e nimshab / tâ cho sobhat âyene rakhshân konand
Hafez, do not turn away from the midnight sigh, so that your mirror may be made to shine like the morning.
What this fâl tells you
Youth and opportunity are in your hands now: this fal says to seize the ball before the moment passes. Tradition reads it also as comfort for a time of longing; those who understand know that hardship can refine the heart like gold in a crucible. A sincere sigh at night will polish your mirror until it shines like dawn.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: konand ("they do"). qâfiye: -ân (sân, imân, narges-dân, chowgân, farmân, tufân, dast-afshân, ensân, hejrân, rakhshân).
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| shâhedân | the beauties dictionary | |
| گر | gar | if (= agar) (اگر) dictionary |
| z-in | from this (= az in); z-in pish = before this (از این) | |
| کنند | konand | (they) do, make dictionary |
| zâhedân | ascetics, the outwardly pious dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| imân | faith dictionary | |
| هر | har | every dictionary |
| کجا | kojâ | where; how? (rhetorical) dictionary |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| shâkh | branch; shâkh-e nabât = a stick of rock candy (also the name tradition gives Hafez's beloved) dictionary | |
| نرگس | narges | narcissus (image of the beloved's languid eye) dictionary |
| beshkofad | blooms dictionary | |
| dide | eye (چشم) | |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| javân-e | young one dictionary | |
| gu'i | a ball (in polo); gu'i bordan = to win dictionary | |
| bebar | carry off! win! dictionary | |
| پیش | pish | before; pish az ân = before that dictionary |
| کز | k-az | that from (= ke az) (که از) |
| قامتت | ghâmatat | your stature dictionary |
| چوگان | chowgân | polo stick: image for a curved lock of hair dictionary |
| âsheghân | lovers dictionary | |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| sar | head; bar sar-e khod = over oneself dictionary | |
| khod | self; here "and indeed, after all" dictionary | |
| hokm | command, control dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| فرمان | farmân | command dictionary |
| to | you dictionary | |
| bâshad | may it be; bâshad ke = perhaps, so that maybe dictionary | |
| چشمم | cheshmam | my eye dictionary |
| کمتر | kamtar | less dictionary |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| hekâyat-hâ | stories, things to tell dictionary | |
| tufân | flood, storm dictionary | |
| یار | yâr | beloved; friend dictionary |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| گیرد | girad | takes, catches dictionary |
| arsh | the throne of God, highest heaven dictionary | |
| مردم | mardom | pupil (mardom-e cheshm); also "people" (pun with ensân) dictionary |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| khun | blood dictionary | |
| âgheshte | soaked, kneaded with dictionary | |
| shod | become (with khâhad: will become); became dictionary | |
| zolm | injustice dictionary | |
| ensân | human being; also the pupil of the eye (pun) dictionary | |
| khosh | well, sweetly; pleasant dictionary | |
| barâ | get along! come to terms! (کنار بیا) | |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| ghosse | sorrow, worry dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| کاهل | k-ahl | for the people (of) (= ke ahl) (که اهل) dictionary |
| râz | secret dictionary | |
| eysh | pleasure, enjoyment dictionary | |
| bute | crucible dictionary | |
| مکش | makesh | do not pull; sar makesh = do not turn away dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| چو | cho | since, when; like (= chon) (چون) |
| sobhat | your morning; cho sobhat = like the morning (for you) dictionary | |
| âyene | mirror (آیینه) |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 197. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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