Ghazal 235 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
زهی خجسته زمانی که یار بازآیدبه کامِ غمزدگان غمگُسار بازآید
zehi khojaste zamâni ke yâr bâz âyad / be kâm-e ghamzadegân ghamgosâr bâz âyad
How blessed the moment when the beloved comes back, when the comforter returns just as the grieving wish.
COUPLET 2
به پیشِ خیلِ خیالش کشیدم اَبلقِ چشمبدان امید که آن شهسوار بازآید
be pish-e kheyl-e khiyâlash keshidam ablagh-e cheshm / bedân omid ke ân shahsavâr bâz âyad
I led out the piebald horse of my black-and-white eye to meet the troop of the beloved's image, in the hope that the royal rider would come back.
COUPLET 3
اگر نه در خمِ چوگان او رَوَد سَرِ منز سر نگویم و سر خود چه کار بازآید
agar na dar kham-e chowgân-e u ravad sar-e man / ze sar naguyam o sar khod che kâr bâz âyad
If my head does not roll in the curve of the beloved's polo stick, I will say nothing of a head: what use would a head be?
COUPLET 4
مقیم بر سرِ راهش نشسته‌ام چون گردبدان هوس که بدین رهگذار بازآید
moghim bar sar-e râhash neshaste-am chon gard / bedân havas ke bedin rahgozâr bâz âyad
I have settled like dust on the beloved's road, longing for the beloved to come back this way.
COUPLET 5
دلی که با سرِ زلفین او قراری دادگمان مَبَر که بدان دل قرار بازآید
deli ke bâ sar-e zolfeyn-e u gharâri dâd / gomân mabar ke bedân del gharâr bâz âyad
A heart that has made a pact with those two curls: do not imagine that peace will ever come back to it.
COUPLET 6
چه جورها که کشیدند بلبلان از دیبه بویِ آن که دگر نوبهار بازآید
che jowr-hâ ke keshidand bolbolân az dey / be bu-ye ân ke degar nowbahâr bâz âyad
What cruelties the nightingales endured from winter, in the hope that spring would come back again.
COUPLET 7
ز نقش بندِ قضا هست امید آن حافظکه همچو سرو به دستم نگار بازآید
ze naghsh-band-e ghazâ hast omid-e ân Hâfez / ke hamcho sarv be dastam negâr bâz âyad
Hafez, there is hope from the painter of destiny that the beloved will come back into my arms, tall as a cypress.
What this fâl tells you
This is a fal of return. Tradition reads it as hope that someone or something you miss will come back, just as spring returns after a hard winter. Wait with patience and an open heart, keep your place on the road, and trust that the painter of destiny has drawn a happy meeting.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: bâz âyad ("comes back"). qâfiye: -âr (yâr, ghamgosâr, shahsavâr, kâr, rahgozâr, gharâr, nowbahâr, negâr).
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| khojaste | blessed, auspicious dictionary | |
| zamâni | a moment dictionary | |
| یار | yâr | beloved; friend dictionary |
| bâz âyad | comes back dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| کام | kâm | wish, desire; be kâm = as one wishes dictionary |
| پیش | pish | front; be pish-e = before, to meet dictionary |
| khiyâlash | her image, her phantom in the mind dictionary | |
| کشیدم | keshidam | I led out dictionary |
| ablagh | piebald horse (black and white, like an eye) dictionary | |
| چشم | cheshm | eye dictionary |
| bedân | to that (point) (= be ân) (به آن) | |
| omid | hope dictionary | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| agar | if dictionary | |
| نه | na | not, no dictionary |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| چوگان | chowgân | polo stick: image for a curved lock of hair dictionary |
| u | him / her (Persian does not mark gender) dictionary | |
| ravad | goes, rolls dictionary | |
| sar | head; sar be kuh dâdan = to send someone off wandering dictionary | |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| نگویم | naguyam | I do not say dictionary |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| khod | indeed, at all dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| کار | kâr | work; affair, matter dictionary |
| مقیم | moghim | resident dictionary |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| râhash | his/her road dictionary | |
| نشسته‌ام | neshaste-am | I have sat, I have settled dictionary |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| گرد | gard | dust dictionary |
| هوس | havas | longing, desire dictionary |
| bedin | with this, in this (= be in) (با این) | |
| deli | a heart dictionary | |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| zolfeyn | two curls (Arabic dual of zolf) dictionary | |
| gharâri | an agreement, a pact dictionary | |
| dâd | gave dictionary | |
| گمان | gomân | thought, suspicion; dar gomân andâkht = made me think dictionary |
| مبر | mabar | do not carry; gomân mabar = do not imagine dictionary |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| قرار | gharâr | calm, rest, peace of mind dictionary |
| jowr-hâ | cruelties dictionary | |
| کشیدند | keshidand | they suffered dictionary |
| bolbolân | nightingales dictionary | |
| bu-ye | scent of (ezafe) dictionary | |
| degar | again; other (= digar) (دیگر) | |
| نقش | naghsh | image, shape dictionary |
| band | binding; naghsh-band = painter, designer dictionary | |
| قضا | ghazâ | fate, divine decree dictionary |
| هست | hast | there is dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| همچو | hamcho | like (مثل) |
| sarv | cypress (image of a tall beloved) dictionary | |
| dastam | my hand; az dast raftan = to slip out of one's control dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 235. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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