Ghazal 24 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
مطلب طاعت و پیمان و صلاح از من مستکه به پیمانه‌کشی شهره شدم روز الست
matalab tâ'at o peymân o salâh az man-e mast / ke be peymâne-keshi shohre shodam ruz-e alast
Do not ask obedience, vows and good conduct from me, drunk as I am: I was famous for drinking from the cup on the Day of Alast.
COUPLET 2
من همان دم که وضو ساختم از چشمهٔ عشقچار تکبیر زدم یکسره بر هرچه که هست
man hamân dam ke vozu sâkhtam az cheshme-ye eshgh / châr takbir zadam yeksare bar har che ke hast
The moment I washed for prayer at the spring of love, I said the four funeral takbirs over everything that exists.
COUPLET 3
می بده تا دهمت آگهی از سِرّ قضاکه به روی که شدم عاشق و از بوی که مست
mey bede tâ daham-at âgahi az serr-e ghazâ / ke be ru-ye ke shodam âshegh o az bu-ye ke mast
Give me wine and I will tell you the secret of fate: whose face made me a lover and whose scent made me drunk.
COUPLET 4
کمر کوه کم است از کمر مور اینجاناامید از در رحمت مشو ای باده‌پرست
kamar-e kuh kam ast az kamar-e mur injâ / nâ-omid az dar-e rahmat masho ey bâde-parast
Here the waist of a mountain counts for less than an ant's waist. Do not despair of the door of mercy, wine-lover.
COUPLET 5
بجز آن نرگس مستانه که چشمش مرسادزیر این طارم فیروزه کسی خوش ننشست
bejoz ân narges-e mastâne ke cheshmash marasâd / zir-e in târom-e firuze kasi khosh naneshast
Except for that drunken narcissus eye, may no evil eye touch it, no one has sat happily under this turquoise dome.
COUPLET 6
جان فدای دهنش باد که در باغ نظرچمن آرای جهان، خوشتر از این غنچه نبست
jân fadâ-ye dahanash bâd ke dar bâgh-e nazar / chaman-ârâ-ye jahân khoshtar az in ghonche nabast
May my soul be the ransom of that mouth: in the garden of vision, the gardener of the world never formed a lovelier bud.
COUPLET 7
حافظ از دولت عشق تو سلیمانی شدیعنی از وصل تواَش نیست بجز باد به دست
Hâfez az dowlat-e eshgh-e to soleymâni shod / ya'ni az vasl-e to-ash nist bejoz bâd be dast
Thanks to your love, Hafez has become a Solomon: that is, from union with you he holds nothing but wind.
What this fâl tells you
Your nature was shaped by love from the very beginning, so do not try to be what you are not. Tradition reads this fal as a reminder never to despair of mercy: on this road small things can be greater than mountains. Even if your hands seem empty for now, the love itself is a kind of kingdom.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: none. qâfiye: -ast (mast, alast, hast, parast, neshast, nabast, dast). Alast is the primordial covenant ("Am I not your Lord?"); the four takbirs are those of the funeral prayer, meaning he gave up the whole world. Solomon commanded the wind, hence the pun in the last line.
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| مطلب | matalab | do not ask for, do not seek (نخواه) dictionary |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| پیمان | peymân | vow, pledge dictionary |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| مست | mast | drunk dictionary |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| shodam | I became dictionary | |
| ruz | day dictionary | |
| همان | hamân | the same dictionary |
| dam | moment; breath dictionary | |
| sâkhtam | I made, performed dictionary | |
| چشمهٔ | cheshme | spring, fountain dictionary |
| چار | châr | four (چهار) |
| zadam | I struck; lâf zadan = to boast dictionary | |
| یکسره | yeksare | all at once, entirely dictionary |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| هرچه | har che | whatever dictionary |
| هست | hast | there is dictionary |
| mey | wine (شراب) dictionary | |
| bedeh | give! pour! dictionary | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| daham-at | I give you dictionary | |
| âgahi | knowledge, information (آگاهی) dictionary | |
| sar | head; sar be kuh dâdan = to send someone off wandering dictionary | |
| قضا | ghazâ | fate, divine decree dictionary |
| ru-ye | face of (ezafe) (چهره) dictionary | |
| âshegh | lover dictionary | |
| bu-ye | scent of (ezafe) dictionary | |
| کمر | kamar | waist; belt; kamar bastan = to get ready to set out dictionary |
| کوه | kuh | mountain dictionary |
| کم | kam | seldom dictionary |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| مور | mur | ant; mur-e khat = the ant-like down on the cheek dictionary |
| injâ | here dictionary | |
| ناامید | nâ-omid | hopeless dictionary |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| rahmat | mercy dictionary | |
| مشو | masho | do not be, do not become (نشو) dictionary |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| bejoz | except (جز) | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| نرگس | narges | narcissus (image of the beloved's languid eye) dictionary |
| چشمش | cheshmash | its eye; cheshm marasâd = may the evil eye not reach dictionary |
| مرساد | marasâd | may it not reach (نرسد) dictionary |
| zir | under dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| kasi | someone; har kasi = everyone dictionary | |
| khosh | well, sweetly; pleasant dictionary | |
| ننشست | nanshast | did not sit dictionary |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| bâd | wind dictionary | |
| bâgh | garden dictionary | |
| نظر | nazar | sight; ahl-e nazar = people of insight, connoisseurs of beauty dictionary |
| چمن | chaman | meadow, lawn dictionary |
| ârâ-ye | adorner; chaman-ârâ = gardener, one who adorns the meadow dictionary | |
| jahân | world dictionary | |
| khoshtar | sweeter, more pleasant dictionary | |
| ghonche | bud, rosebud dictionary | |
| نبست | nabast | did not tie; tarfi nabast = gained nothing dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| dowlat | good fortune (classical sense) (اقبال) dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| shod | become (with khâhad: will become); became dictionary | |
| ya'ni | that is, I mean dictionary | |
| to-ash | of you ... for him (-ash belongs to nist) dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| dast | hand dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 24. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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