Ghazal 314 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.
Read it word by wordTake your own fâl
COUPLET 1
دوش بیماری چشم تو بِبُرد از دستملیکن از لطفِ لبت صورتِ جان می‌بستم
dush bimâri-ye cheshm-e to bebord az dastam / likan az lotf-e labat surat-e jân mibastam
Last night the languor of your eyes swept me out of my own control, yet the kindness of your lips was bringing me back to life.
COUPLET 2
عشق من با خَطِ مشکین تو امروزی نیستدیرگاه است کز این جامِ هِلالی مستم
eshgh-e man bâ khat-e meshkin-e to emruzi nist / dirgâh ast k-az in jâm-e helâli mastam
My love for the musky down on your cheek is not something new; I have been drunk on this crescent-shaped cup for a long time.
COUPLET 3
از ثباتِ خودم این نکته خوش آمد که به جوردر سرِ کویِ تو از پایِ طلب ننشَستم
az sabât-e khodam in nokte khosh âmad ke be jowr / dar sar-e ku-ye to az pâ-ye talab naneshastam
Of my own constancy I liked this one point: under all the cruelty, at the head of your street, I never gave up my search.
COUPLET 4
عافیتْ چشم مدار از منِ میخانه‌نشینکه دَم از خدمتِ رندان زده‌ام تا هستم
âfiyat cheshm madâr az man-e meykhâne-neshin / ke dam az khedmat-e rendân zade-am tâ hastam
Do not expect a safe, respectable life from me, a tavern-dweller: for as long as I have existed I have boasted of serving the free spirits.
COUPLET 5
در رَهِ عشق از آن سویِ فنا صد خطر استتا نگویی که چو عمرم به سر آمد رَستم
dar rah-e eshgh az ân su-ye fanâ sad khatar ast / tâ naguyi ke cho omram be sar âmad rastam
On the road of love there are a hundred dangers even beyond death; so do not say, "When my life is over, I will be free."
COUPLET 6
بعد از اینم چه غم از تیرِ کج اندازِ حسودچون به محبوبِ کمان ابرویِ خود پیوستم
ba'd az inam che gham az tir-e kaj-andâz-e hasud / chon be mahbub-e kamân-abru-ye khod peyvastam
From now on, why should I fear the crooked arrows of the envious, since I have been joined to my bow-browed beloved?
COUPLET 7
بوسه بر دُرجِ عقیقِ تو حلال است مراکه به افسوس و جفا مُهرِ وفا نشکستم
buse bar dorj-e aghigh-e to halâl ast marâ / ke be afsus o jafâ mohr-e vafâ nashekastam
A kiss on the carnelian casket of your lips is my lawful right, for through mockery and cruelty I never broke the seal of faithfulness.
COUPLET 8
صنمی لشکریَم غارتِ دل کرد و بِرَفتآه اگر عاطِفَتِ شاه نگیرد دستم
sanami lashkariyam ghârat-e del kard o beraft / âh agar âtefat-e shâh nagirad dastam
A soldier idol plundered my heart and went away. Alas, if the king's kindness does not take my hand!
COUPLET 9
رُتبَتِ دانشِ حافظ به فلک بَر شده بودکرد غم‌خواریِ شمشادِ بلندت پَستم
rotbat-e dânesh-e Hâfez be falak bar shode bud / kard ghamkhâri-ye shemshâd-e bolandat pastam
Hafez's learning had risen as high as the heavens; caring for your tall boxwood figure has brought me low.
What this fâl tells you
Your constancy is your strength: you did not give up at the beloved's door even when it was hard. Tradition reads this fal as a sign that faithfulness earns its reward and that the envious cannot harm one who is truly joined to what they love. If you feel low, help from a kind and powerful hand may lift you.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: -am ("I"). qâfiye: -ast (dast, bast, mast, neshast, hast, rast, peyvast, shekast, past).
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| dush | last night (دیشب) dictionary | |
| bimâri | sickness, languor dictionary | |
| چشم | cheshm | eye dictionary |
| to | you dictionary | |
| bebord | took away; az yâd bordan = to forget (برد) dictionary | |
| dastam | my hand; az dast raftan = to slip out of one's control dictionary | |
| لیکن | likan | but (ولی) |
| لطف | lotf | kindness, grace; be lotf = kindly, gently dictionary |
| لبت | labat | your lips dictionary |
| surat | form; surat bastan = to take shape dictionary | |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| می‌بستم | mibastam | I was forming; khiyâl bastan = to imagine dictionary |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| khatt | line; here a painted line / the first down on the cheek dictionary | |
| emruzi | of today, new dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| کز | k-az | that from (= ke az) (که از) |
| in | this dictionary | |
| jâm | cup dictionary | |
| مستم | mastam | me drunk; mastam kon = make me drunk dictionary |
| sabât | stability, permanence dictionary | |
| khodam | myself dictionary | |
| نکته | nokte | point, subtle point dictionary |
| khosh | well, sweetly; pleasant dictionary | |
| âmad | came dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| sar | head, end; sar-e ku = the head of the street dictionary | |
| کوی | ku-ye | street, quarter (of) (کوچه) |
| پای | pâ | foot; az pâ oftâdan = to collapse dictionary |
| talab | request, search dictionary | |
| ننشستم | naneshastam | I did not sit down (az pâ-ye talab naneshastan = never to give up seeking) dictionary |
| مدار | madâr | do not have (old imperative of dâshtan) (نداشته باش) dictionary |
| dam | breath; dam zadan az = to speak of, to boast of dictionary | |
| khedmat | service dictionary | |
| rendân | free spirits, rogues who scorn hypocrisy dictionary | |
| zade-am | I have struck; rah zadan = to ambush, rob dictionary | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| rah | road, way (short for râh) (راه) | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| su-ye | toward dictionary | |
| فنا | fanâ | mortality, passing away dictionary |
| sad | hundred dictionary | |
| khatar | danger dictionary | |
| naguyi | (so that) you do not say dictionary | |
| چو | cho | since, when; like (= chon) (چون) |
| omram | my life dictionary | |
| rastam | I escaped, I am free dictionary | |
| ba'd | after; ba'd az in = from now on dictionary | |
| inam | this ... for me (= in marâ) dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| gham | sorrow, grief dictionary | |
| tir | arrow dictionary | |
| کج | kaj | tilted, crooked dictionary |
| andâz | -shooting (kaj-andâz = shooting crooked) dictionary | |
| hasud | envious (person) dictionary | |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| محبوب | mahbub-e | beloved of dictionary |
| abru-ye | eyebrow of dictionary | |
| khod | own dictionary | |
| پیوستم | peyvastam | I joined, became one with dictionary |
| buse | kiss dictionary | |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| dorj | casket, jewel box (the beloved's lips) dictionary | |
| halâl | lawful dictionary | |
| مرا | marâ | me; for me (= man râ) (من را / برای من) |
| afsus | alas dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| jafâ | cruelty, unkindness dictionary | |
| مهر | mohr | seal dictionary |
| وفا | vafâ | loyalty, faithfulness dictionary |
| نشکستم | nashekastam | I did not break dictionary |
| ghârat-e | plunder by dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| کرد | kard | made dictionary |
| beraft | went away (رفت) dictionary | |
| agar | if dictionary | |
| shâh | king dictionary | |
| نگیرد | nagirad | does not take; dast gereftan = to help dictionary |
| rotbat | rank, level dictionary | |
| dânesh | knowledge, learning dictionary | |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| فلک | falak | the sky, the heavens; fate dictionary |
| shode | gone (bar shode bud = had risen) dictionary | |
| bud | was, had dictionary | |
| bolandat | your high dictionary | |
| پستم | pastam | me low dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 314. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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