Ghazal 307 of Hafez (8 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.
Read it word by wordTake your own fâl
COUPLET 1
هر نکته‌ای که گفتم در وصفِ آن شَمایلهر کو شنید گفتا «لِلّهِ دَرُّ قائل»
har nokte'i ke goftam dar vasf-e ân shamâyel / har k-u shenid goftâ lellâhe darro ghâ'el
Every fine point I made describing that lovely face and figure, whoever heard it said, "How excellent the speaker!"
COUPLET 2
تحصیلِ عشق و رندی آسان نمود اولآخر بسوخت جانم در کسبِ این فضایل
tahsil-e eshgh o rendi âsân nemud avval / âkher besukht jânam dar kasb-e in fazâyel
Learning love and the free spirit's way looked easy at first; in the end my soul burned in earning these virtues.
COUPLET 3
حَلّاج بر سرِ دار این نکته خوش سُراید«از شافعی نپرسند امثالِ این مسائل»
hallâj bar sar-e dâr in nokte khosh sorâyad / az shâfe'i naporsand amsâl-e in masâ'el
Hallaj on the gallows sings this point beautifully: "Questions like these are not asked of Shafe'i."
COUPLET 4
گفتم که «کِی ببخشی بر جانِ ناتوانم؟»گفت «آن زمان که نَبْوَد جان در میانه حائل»
goftam ke key bebakhshi bar jân-e nâtavânam / goft ân zamân ke nabvad jân dar miyâne hâ'el
I asked, "When will you have mercy on my feeble soul?" The beloved said, "When your soul no longer stands in between."
COUPLET 5
دل داده‌ام به یاری، شوخی، کَشی، نگاریمَرضیّةُ السَجایا مَحمودَةُ الخَصائل
del dâde-am be yâri shukhi keshi negâri / marziyyatos-sajâyâ mahmudatol-khasâ'el
I have given my heart to a friend, playful, graceful and lovely, (Arabic) of pleasing nature and praiseworthy qualities.
COUPLET 6
در عینِ گوشه‌گیری بودم چو چشمِ مستتو اکنون شدم به مستان چون ابرویِ تو مایل
dar eyn-e gushe-giri budam cho cheshm-e mastat / v-aknun shodam be mastân chon abru-ye to mâyel
I was deep in seclusion, like your drunken eye; now, like your eyebrow, I lean toward the drunkards.
COUPLET 7
از آبِ دیده صد رَه طوفانِ نوح دیدموز لوحِ سینه نقشت هرگز نگشت زایل
az âb-e dide sad rah tufân-e nuh didam / v-az lowh-e sine naghshat hargez nagasht zâyel
A hundred times my tears have shown me Noah's flood, yet your image was never washed from the tablet of my heart.
COUPLET 8
ای دوست دستِ حافظ تَعویذِ چشم زخم استیا رب ببینم آن را در گردنت حَمایل
ey dust dast-e Hâfez ta'viz-e cheshm-zakhm ast / yâ rab bebinam ân râ dar gardanat hamâyel
Friend, Hafez's hand is an amulet against the evil eye; Lord, let me see it hanging like a sash around your neck.
What this fâl tells you
What looked easy at first has asked much of you, and that is the mark of something worth learning. Tradition reads this fal as praise for the path you have chosen: the deepest matters are not settled by rules but by the heart. Let go of the self that stands in the way, and the mercy you ask for draws nearer.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: none. qâfiye: -el / -âyel (shamâyel, ghâ'el, fazâyel, masâ'el, hâ'el, khasâ'el, mâyel, zâyel, hamâyel). The end of beyt 1 and the second half of beyt 5 are Arabic.
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| هر | har | every dictionary |
| nokte-i | a subtle point dictionary | |
| گفتم | goftam | I said dictionary |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| وصف | vasf | description dictionary |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| کو | k-u | who (= ke u; har k-u = whoever) (که او) dictionary |
| shenid | heard dictionary | |
| گفتا | goftâ | (he/she) said (poetic form of goft) (گفت) dictionary |
| قائل | ghâ'el | speaker (lellâhe darro ghâ'el = how excellent the speaker!) dictionary |
| tahsil | acquiring, learning dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| rendi | free-spirited life of the "rend" (a rogue who scorns hypocrisy) dictionary | |
| نمود | nemud | seemed, appeared (past of nemudan) (به نظر رسید) dictionary |
| avval | at first dictionary | |
| besukht | burned (سوخت) dictionary | |
| jânam | my soul dictionary | |
| کسب | kasb-e | acquiring of dictionary |
| in | this dictionary | |
| فضایل | fazâyel | virtues, merits dictionary |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| sar | top; bar sar-e dâr = on the gallows dictionary | |
| dâr | gallows dictionary | |
| نکته | nokte | point, subtle point dictionary |
| khosh | well, sweetly; pleasant dictionary | |
| sorâyad | sings dictionary | |
| نپرسند | naporsand | they do not ask dictionary |
| amsâl | the likes of dictionary | |
| مسائل | masâ'el | questions, problems dictionary |
| bebakhshi | you will forgive, have mercy dictionary | |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| ناتوانم | nâtavânam | me weak (= nâtavân + -am) dictionary |
| گفت | goft | say (with natavân: cannot say); said dictionary |
| zamân | time dictionary | |
| نبود | nabvad | is not (old form) (نیست / نباشد) dictionary |
| میانه | miyâne | the middle; dar miyâne = in the midst, at that moment dictionary |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| dâde-am | I have given dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| yâri | friendship; a friend dictionary | |
| shukhi | a playful one dictionary | |
| eyn | very midst; dar eyn-e = right in the middle of dictionary | |
| budam | I was dictionary | |
| چو | cho | since, when; like (= chon) (چون) |
| چشم | cheshm | eye dictionary |
| مستت | mastat | your drunken dictionary |
| aknun | now (حالا) dictionary | |
| shodam | I became dictionary | |
| مستان | mastân | the drunk ones dictionary |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| abru-ye | eyebrow of dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| مایل | mâyel | inclined to dictionary |
| âb | water; stream dictionary | |
| dide | eye (چشم) | |
| sad | hundred dictionary | |
| rah | road, way (short for râh) (راه) | |
| tufân | flood, storm dictionary | |
| didam | I saw dictionary | |
| وز | v-az | and from (= va az) (و از) |
| لوح | lowh | tablet, slate dictionary |
| sine | chest dictionary | |
| نقشت | naghshat | your image dictionary |
| هرگز | hargez | never dictionary |
| نگشت | nagasht | did not become dictionary |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| dust | friend; (in Hafez) the beloved, or God dictionary | |
| dast | hand dictionary | |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| zakhm | wound; cheshm-zakhm = the evil eye dictionary | |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| یا | yâ | O (vocative); or dictionary |
| bebinam | I see dictionary | |
| گردنت | gardanat | your neck dictionary |
| hamâyel | sash, sword-belt worn across the chest dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 307. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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