Ghazal 237 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
نفس برآمد و کام از تو بر نمی‌آیدفغان که بختِ من از خواب در نمی‌آید
nafas bar âmad o kâm az to bar nemiâyad / faghân ke bakht-e man az khâb dar nemiâyad
My breath is spent, and still my wish is not granted by you. Alas, my luck will not wake up from its sleep.
COUPLET 2
صبا به چشمِ من انداخت خاکی از کویشکه آبِ زندگیم در نظر نمی‌آید
sabâ be cheshm-e man andâkht khâki az kuyash / ke âb-e zendegiyam dar nazar nemiâyad
The morning breeze threw a little dust from the beloved's street into my eyes, and now even the water of life seems worthless to me.
COUPLET 3
قدِ بلندِ تو را تا به بَر نمی‌گیرمدرختِ کام و مرادم به بَر نمی‌آید
ghad-e boland-e to râ tâ be bar nemigiram / derakht-e kâm o morâdam be bar nemiâyad
Until I hold your tall figure in my arms, the tree of my wishes and desires will bear no fruit.
COUPLET 4
مگر به رویِ دلارایِ یارِ ما ور نیبه هیچ وجه دگر کار بر نمی‌آید
magar be ru-ye delârâ-ye yâr-e mâ var ni / be hich vajh-e degar kâr bar nemiâyad
Only through the heart-adorning face of our beloved; otherwise, by no other means will anything work out.
COUPLET 5
مقیمِ زلفِ تو شد دل که خوش سَوادی دیدوز آن غریبِ بلاکش خبر نمی‌آید
moghim-e zolf-e to shod del ke khosh savâdi did / v-az ân gharib-e balâkesh khabar nemiâyad
My heart settled in your curls because it found a pleasant dark land there, and from that suffering stranger no news comes back.
COUPLET 6
ز شَستِ صدق گشادم هزار تیرِ دعاولی چه سود یکی کارگر نمی‌آید
ze shast-e sedgh goshâdam hezâr tir-e do'â / vali che sud yeki kârgar nemiâyad
From the bow-hand of sincerity I shot a thousand arrows of prayer, but what use? Not one of them hits home.
COUPLET 7
بسم حکایتِ دل هست با نسیمِ سحرولی به بختِ من امشب سحر نمی‌آید
basam hekâyat-e del hast bâ nasim-e sahar / vali be bakht-e man emshab sahar nemiâyad
I have much to tell the dawn breeze about my heart, but for my luck, tonight dawn does not come.
COUPLET 8
در این خیال به سر شد زمانِ عمر و هنوزبلایِ زلفِ سیاهت به سر نمی‌آید
dar in khiyâl be sar shod zamân-e omr o hanuz / balâ-ye zolf-e siyâhat be sar nemiâyad
My whole lifetime has ended in this dream, and still the torment of your black curls has no end.
COUPLET 9
ز بس که شد دلِ حافظ رمیده از همه کسکنون ز حلقهٔ زلفت به در نمی‌آید
ze bas ke shod del-e Hâfez ramide az hame kas / konun ze halghe-ye zolfat be dar nemiâyad
Hafez's heart has grown so shy of everyone that now it will not come out of the ring of your curls.
What this fâl tells you
You may feel that your wish is slow to come true and that your luck is still asleep. Tradition reads this fal as a call for patience: keep sending your sincere prayers, because the night is long but not endless. What you are waiting for depends on one person or one door; turn there, and nowhere else.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: nemiâyad ("does not come"). qâfiye: -ar (bar, dar, nazar, kârgar, sahar, sar).
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| نفس | nafas | breath; nafas bar âmad = my breath ran out dictionary |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| کام | kâm | wish, desire; be kâm = as one wishes dictionary |
| to | you dictionary | |
| نمی‌آید | nemiâyad | does not come dictionary |
| فغان | faghân | alas! cry of lament dictionary |
| bakht | luck, fortune dictionary | |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| khâb | sleep dictionary | |
| sabâ | the morning breeze, which carries messages between lovers in poetry (نسیم صبح) | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| چشم | cheshm | eye dictionary |
| andâkht | threw dictionary | |
| khâki | a handful of earth; a humble person dictionary | |
| âb | water; stream dictionary | |
| zendegiyam | my life; âb-e zendegi = the water of life dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| نظر | nazar | sight; ahl-e nazar = people of insight, connoisseurs of beauty dictionary |
| قد | ghad | stature, figure dictionary |
| boland | high; famous dictionary | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| bar | bosom, arms; be bar gereftan = to embrace dictionary | |
| نمی‌گیرم | nemigiram | I do not take, I do not hold dictionary |
| derakht | tree dictionary | |
| مرادم | morâdam | my desire, my goal dictionary |
| bar | fruit; be bar âmadan = to bear fruit dictionary | |
| مگر | magar | only, except (through) dictionary |
| ru-ye | face of (ezafe) (چهره) dictionary | |
| یار | yâr | beloved; friend dictionary |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| ور | var | and if (= va agar) (و اگر) |
| ni | not (= na); var ni = otherwise (نه) | |
| هیچ | hich | any; no dictionary |
| وجه | vajh | way, means; face dictionary |
| degar | again; other (= digar) (دیگر) | |
| کار | kâr | work; affair, matter dictionary |
| مقیم | moghim | resident dictionary |
| zolf | curl, lock of hair dictionary | |
| shod | become (with khâhad: will become); became dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| khosh | well, sweetly; pleasant dictionary | |
| savâdi | a dark region, an inhabited land; also blackness (of the curls) dictionary | |
| did | saw dictionary | |
| وز | v-az | and from (= va az) (و از) |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| gharib | stranger, exile dictionary | |
| khabar | news dictionary | |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| shast | thumb-ring of an archer; the bow-hand dictionary | |
| sedgh | sincerity, truth dictionary | |
| گشادم | goshâdam | I let fly, I shot (= goshudam) (گشودم) dictionary |
| هزار | hezâr | thousand; also "nightingale" (hezâr-dastân) dictionary |
| tir | arrow dictionary | |
| do'â | prayer, blessing dictionary | |
| vali | but dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| sud | profit, gain dictionary | |
| yeki | one (person) dictionary | |
| کارگر | kârgar | effective; kârgar âmadan = to hit home dictionary |
| basam | I have much (= bas marâ) dictionary | |
| hekâyat | story, tale dictionary | |
| هست | hast | there is dictionary |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| نسیم | nasim | breeze dictionary |
| sehr | magic dictionary | |
| emshab | tonight dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| khiyâl | fancy, dream, imagination dictionary | |
| sar | end; be sar shodan = to come to an end dictionary | |
| zamân | time dictionary | |
| omr | life, lifetime dictionary | |
| هنوز | hanuz | still, yet dictionary |
| balâ | calamity, torment dictionary | |
| siyâhat | your black (= siyâh-e to) dictionary | |
| sar | end; be sar âmadan = to come to an end dictionary | |
| bas | much, many dictionary | |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| ramide | shy, fled, startled away dictionary | |
| همه | hame | all, whole dictionary |
| کس | kas | anyone; with negative: no one dictionary |
| کنون | konun | now (= aknun) (اکنون) |
| halghe | circle, ring dictionary | |
| zolfat | your curls dictionary | |
| dar | door; be dar âmadan = to come out dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 237. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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