Ghazal 229 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
بخت از دهانِ دوست نشانم نمی‌دهددولت خبر ز رازِ نهانم نمی‌دهد
bakht az dahân-e dust neshânam nemidahad / dowlat khabar ze râz-e nahânam nemidahad
Fortune gives me no sign of the beloved's mouth; luck brings me no news of my hidden secret.
COUPLET 2
از بهرِ بوسه‌ای ز لبش جان همی‌دهماینم همی‌سِتانَد و آنم نمی‌دهد
az bahr-e buse-i ze labash jân hamidaham / inam hamisetânad o ânam nemidahad
For a single kiss from those lips I keep offering my life; it takes the one from me and will not give me the other.
COUPLET 3
مُردم در این فِراق و در آن پرده راه نیستیا هست و پرده دار نشانم نمی‌دهد
mordam dar in ferâgh o dar ân parde râh nist / yâ hast o parde-dâr neshânam nemidahad
I am dying in this separation, and there is no way behind that curtain; or there is, and the gatekeeper will not show it to me.
COUPLET 4
زلفش کشید بادِ صبا چرخِ سِفله بینکانجا مجالِ بادِ وَزانَم نمی‌دهد
zolfash keshid bâd-e sabâ charkh-e sefle bin / k-ânjâ majâl-e bâd-e vazânam nemidahad
The morning breeze tugged at those curls. See how mean the turning sky is: it will not give me even the room a passing breeze has there.
COUPLET 5
چندان که بر کنار چو پرگار می‌شدمدوران چو نقطه رَه به میانم نمی‌دهد
chandân ke bar kenâr cho pargâr mishodam / dowrân cho noghte rah be miyânam nemidahad
However long I went around the edge like a compass, the turning age, like the center point, will not let me into the middle.
COUPLET 6
شِکَّر به صبر دست دهد عاقبت ولیبدعهدیِ زمانه زمانم نمی‌دهد
shekar be sabr dast dahad âghebat vali / bad-ahdi-ye zamâne zamânam nemidahad
Sugar comes through patience in the end, but the faithlessness of the age does not give me the time.
COUPLET 7
گفتم رَوَم به خواب و ببینم جمالِ دوستحافظ ز آه و ناله امانم نمی‌دهد
goftam ravam be khâb o bebinam jamâl-e dust / Hâfez ze âh o nâle amânam nemidahad
I said I would go to sleep and see the beloved's beauty in a dream, but Hafez, with his sighs and laments, gives me no peace.
What this fâl tells you
What you are waiting for is delayed, not denied: sugar comes through patience in the end. Tradition reads this fal as advice to keep patient even when doors seem closed and the gatekeeper silent. Do not let worry and complaint steal your rest; quiet sleep may bring you the vision you seek.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: nemidahad ("does not give"). qâfiye: -ânam (neshânam, nahânam, ânam, vazânam, miyânam, zamânam, amânam).
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| bakht | fortune, luck dictionary | |
| dahân | mouth dictionary | |
| dust | friend; (in Hafez) the beloved, or God dictionary | |
| نشانم | neshânam | a sign (to me) dictionary |
| نمی‌دهد | nemidahad | does not give dictionary |
| dowlat | good fortune (classical sense) (اقبال) dictionary | |
| khabar | news dictionary | |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| râz | secret dictionary | |
| نهانم | nahânam | my hidden (secret) dictionary |
| bahr | sake; ze bahr-e = for the sake of (برای) | |
| buse'i | a kiss dictionary | |
| لبش | labash | her lip dictionary |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| همی‌دهم | hamidaham | I keep giving (می‌دهم) dictionary |
| inam | this (from me) dictionary | |
| همی‌ستاند | hamisetânad | keeps taking (می‌گیرد) dictionary |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| ânam | that (to me) dictionary | |
| مردم | mordam | I am dying, I died dictionary |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| پرده | parde | curtain, veil dictionary |
| râh | way, road dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| یا | yâ | O (vocative); or dictionary |
| هست | hast | there is dictionary |
| dâr | keeper; parde-dâr = gatekeeper, chamberlain dictionary | |
| zolfash | her curls dictionary | |
| کشید | keshid | pulled, led (to) dictionary |
| bâd | wind dictionary | |
| sabâ | the morning breeze, which carries messages between lovers in poetry (نسیم صبح) | |
| چرخ | charkh | wheel; the sky as a turning wheel dictionary |
| bin | see! (= bebin) (ببین) dictionary | |
| کانجا | k-ânjâ | for there (= ke ânjâ) (که آنجا) |
| مجال | majâl | room, chance dictionary |
| چندان | chandân | so long, only so much dictionary |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| کنار | kenâr | bank, side dictionary |
| چو | cho | since, when; like (= chon) (چون) |
| پرگار | pargâr | compass (for drawing circles) dictionary |
| می‌شدم | mishodam | I was going dictionary |
| نقطه | noghte | point; noghte-ye binesh = pupil of the eye dictionary |
| rah | road, way (short for râh) (راه) | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| میانم | miyânam | (to) the middle (+ -am: me) dictionary |
| shekar | sugar dictionary | |
| sabr | patience dictionary | |
| dast | hand dictionary | |
| dahad | gives, may give dictionary | |
| âghebat | end, outcome dictionary | |
| vali | but dictionary | |
| zamânam | time (to me) dictionary | |
| گفتم | goftam | I said dictionary |
| ravam | I go dictionary | |
| khâb | sleep dictionary | |
| bebinam | I see dictionary | |
| jamâl | beauty dictionary | |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| ناله | nâle | moan, lament dictionary |
| amânam | respite, peace (to me) dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 229. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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