Ghazal 334 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
گر دست رَسَد در سرِ زُلفینِ تو بازمچون گوی چه سرها که به چوگانِ تو بازم
gar dast rasad dar sar-e zolfeyn-e to bâzam / chon gu che sar-hâ ke be chowgân-e to bâzam
If my hand ever reaches the tips of your two curls again, how many heads I will lose like balls to your polo stick!
COUPLET 2
زلفِ تو مرا عمر دراز است ولی نیستدر دست، سرِ مویی از آن عمرِ درازم
zolf-e to marâ omr-e derâz ast vali nist / dar dast sar-e muyi az ân omr-e derâzam
Your long curl is my long life, and yet I do not hold even a hair's tip of that long life of mine.
COUPLET 3
پروانهٔ راحت بده ای شمع که امشباز آتشِ دل پیش تو چون شمع گُدازم
parvâne-ye râhat bede ey sham' ke emshab / az âtash-e del pish-e to chon sham' godâzam
O candle, grant me leave to rest, for tonight, in the fire of my heart, I am melting before you like a candle.
COUPLET 4
آن دَم که به یک خنده دَهَم جان چو صُراحیمستانِ تو خواهم که گُزارَند نمازم
ân dam ke be yek khande daham jân cho sorâhi / mastân-e to khâham ke gozârand namâzam
When, like the wine flask, I give up my soul with a single gurgling laugh, I want your drunkards to say my funeral prayer.
COUPLET 5
چون نیست نمازِ منِ آلوده نمازیدر میکده زان کم نَشَوَد سوز و گُدازم
chon nist namâz-e man-e âlude namâzi / dar meykade z-ân kam nashavad suz o godâzam
Since the prayer of a stained man like me is no real prayer, my burning and melting in the tavern never grow less.
COUPLET 6
در مسجد و میخانه خیالت اگر آیدمحراب و کمانچه ز دو ابرویِ تو سازم
dar masjed o meykhâne khiyâlat agar âyad / mehrâb o kamânche ze do abru-ye to sâzam
If your image comes to me in the mosque or the tavern, I will make a prayer niche and a fiddle bow from your two eyebrows.
COUPLET 7
گر خلوتِ ما را شبی از رخ بِفُروزیچون صبح بر آفاقِ جهان سر بِفَرازم
gar khalvat-e mâ râ shabi az rokh befruzi / chon sobh bar âfâgh-e jahân sar befarâzam
If one night you light up our lonely room with your face, I will lift my head over the horizons of the world like the dawn.
COUPLET 8
محمود بُوَد عاقبتِ کار در این راهگر سر بِرَوَد در سرِ سودایِ اَیازم
mahmud bovad âghebat-e kâr dar in râh / gar sar beravad dar sar-e sodâ-ye ayâzam
On this road the end will be praiseworthy, like Sultan Mahmud's, even if I lose my head in my passion for my Ayaz.
COUPLET 9
حافظ غمِ دل با که بگویم؟ که در این دورجز جام نشاید که بُوَد محرمِ رازم
Hâfez gham-e del bâ ke beguyam ke dar in dowr / joz jâm nashâyad ke bovad mahram-e râzam
Hafez, to whom can I tell my heart's grief? In this age nothing but the cup is fit to keep my secret.
What this fâl tells you
Give your whole heart to what you love, and the end of the road will be good. Tradition reads this fal as a sign that one bright night can light up a long darkness: the person or hope you wait for may still come to you. Keep your secrets with care and share them only with what is truly trustworthy.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: none. qâfiye: -âzam (bâzam, derâzam, godâzam, namâzam, sâzam, befarâzam, ayâzam, râzam). Beyt 1 rhymes bâzam "again" with bâzam "I lose (in play)"; beyt 8 puns on mahmud "praiseworthy" and Sultan Mahmud, lover of his servant Ayaz.
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| گر | gar | if (= agar) (اگر) dictionary |
| dast | hand dictionary | |
| resad | reaches (برسد) dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| sar | head; tip, end (sar-e zolf = tip of a curl); dar sar-e = for the sake of dictionary | |
| zolfeyn | two curls (Arabic dual of zolf) dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| bâzam | me again (= bâz marâ) dictionary | |
| چون | chon | since, when; like dictionary |
| gu-ye | ball of dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| sar-hâ | heads dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| چوگان | chowgân | polo stick: image for a curved lock of hair dictionary |
| zolf | curl, lock of hair dictionary | |
| مرا | marâ | me; for me (= man râ) (من را / برای من) |
| omr | life, lifetime dictionary | |
| derâz | long dictionary | |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| vali | but dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| muyi | fine hair, a hair dictionary | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| derâzam | my long dictionary | |
| پروانهٔ | parvâne | permit, leave; also "moth" (pun) dictionary |
| râhat | comfort, ease dictionary | |
| bedeh | give! pour! dictionary | |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| sham' | candle dictionary | |
| emshab | tonight dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| پیش | pish | before, in front of dictionary |
| گدازم | godâzam | I melt; suz o godâz = burning and melting dictionary |
| dam | moment; breath dictionary | |
| یک | yek | one dictionary |
| khande | laughter dictionary | |
| daham | I give dictionary | |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| چو | cho | since, when; like (= chon) (چون) |
| مستان | mastân | the drunk ones dictionary |
| khâham | I will (future auxiliary) dictionary | |
| نمازم | namâzam | my prayer dictionary |
| نماز | namâz | ritual prayer dictionary |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| âlude | stained, polluted dictionary | |
| namâzi | a (real) prayer dictionary | |
| میکده | meykade | tavern dictionary |
| z-ân | from that (= az ân) (از آن) | |
| کم | kam | less; kam nashavad = does not grow less dictionary |
| نشود | nashavad | does not become dictionary |
| suz | burning dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| مسجد | masjed | mosque dictionary |
| میخانه | meykhâne | tavern dictionary |
| khiyâlat | the thought of you, your image dictionary | |
| agar | if dictionary | |
| âyad | comes, will come (می‌آید) dictionary | |
| محراب | mehrâb-e | prayer niche of dictionary |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| do | two dictionary | |
| abru-ye | eyebrow of dictionary | |
| sâzam | I make dictionary | |
| khalvat | private room, solitude dictionary | |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| shabi | one night dictionary | |
| rokh | face, cheek dictionary | |
| befruzi | you light up dictionary | |
| sobh | morning dictionary | |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| âfâgh | horizons; the whole world dictionary | |
| jahân | world dictionary | |
| bovad | is, will be (old form of bâshad) (باشد) dictionary | |
| âghebat | end, outcome dictionary | |
| کار | kâr | work; affair, matter dictionary |
| in | this dictionary | |
| râh | way, road dictionary | |
| beravad | goes away dictionary | |
| sodâ-ye | passion, longing for dictionary | |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| gham | sorrow, grief dictionary | |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| beguyam | (that) I say dictionary | |
| dowr | turn; the passing round of the cup; the age dictionary | |
| joz | except, besides dictionary | |
| jâm | cup dictionary | |
| râzam | my secret dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 334. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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