Ghazal 470 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
سینه مالامال درد است ای دریغا مرهمیدل ز تنهایی به جان آمد خدا را همدمی
sine mâlâmâl-e dard ast ey daryghâ marhami / del ze tanhâyi be jân âmad khodâ râ hamdami
My chest is brimming with pain: alas, if only there were a balm! My heart is worn out with loneliness: for God's sake, a companion!
COUPLET 2
چشم آسایش که دارد از سپهر تیزرو؟ساقیا جامی به من ده تا بیاسایم دمی
cheshm-e âsâyesh ke dârad az sepehr-e tizrow? / sâghiyâ jâmi be man deh tâ biyâsâyam dami
Who can expect rest from the swift-turning sky? Cupbearer, give me a cup, so that I may rest for a moment.
COUPLET 3
زیرکی را گفتم: «این احوال بین»، خندید و گفت:«صعب‌روزی، بوالعجب‌کاری، پریشان‌عالمی»
zireki râ goftam in ahvâl bin khandid o goft / sa'b-ruzi bol'ajab-kâri parishân-âlami
I said to a clever man, "Look at the state of things." He laughed and said: "Hard times, a bewildering business, a world in disarray."
COUPLET 4
سوختم در چاه صبر از بهر آن شمع چگلشاه ترکان فارغ است از حال ما، کو رستمی؟
sukhtam dar châh-e sabr az bahr-e ân sham'-e chegel / shâh-e torkân fâregh ast az hâl-e mâ ku rostami?
I have burned in the well of patience for the sake of that candle of Chegel; the king of the Turks cares nothing for my state. Where is a Rostam?
COUPLET 5
در طریق عشق‌بازی امن و آسایش بلاستریش باد آن دل که با درد تو خواهد مرهمی
dar tarigh-e eshghbâzi amn o âsâyesh balâst / rish bâd ân del ke bâ dard-e to khâhad marhami
On the path of love, safety and comfort are a misfortune; may the heart that seeks a balm for the pain you give stay wounded.
COUPLET 6
اهل کام و ناز را در کوی رندی راه نیسترهروی باید جهان‌سوزی نه خامی بی‌غمی
ahl-e kâm o nâz râ dar ku-ye rendi râh nist / rahravi bâyad jahânsuzi na khâmi bighami
Those who live for their own pleasure and pampering have no way into the street of the free spirits; it needs a traveler who sets the world on fire, not a raw, carefree one.
COUPLET 7
آدمی در عالم خاکی نمی‌آید به دستعالمی دیگر بباید ساخت وز نو آدمی
âdami dar âlam-e khâki nemiâyad be dast / âlami digar bebâyad sâkht v-az now âdami
A true human being cannot be found in this earthly world; another world must be made, and a human being made anew.
COUPLET 8
خیز تا خاطر بدان تُرک سمرقندی دهیمکز نسیمش بوی جوی مولیان آید همی
khiz tâ khâter bedân tork-e samarghandi dahim / k-az nasimash bu-ye ju-ye muliyân âyad hami
Rise, let us give our hearts to that Turk of Samarkand, whose breeze carries the scent of the Muliyan stream.
COUPLET 9
گریهٔ حافظ چه سنجد پیش استغنای عشقکاندر این دریا نماید هفت دریا شبنمی
gerye-ye Hâfez che sanjad pish-e esteghnâ-ye eshgh? / k-andar in daryâ namâyad haft daryâ shabnami
What do Hafez's tears weigh against love's proud self-sufficiency? In this sea, the seven seas look like a single drop of dew.
What this fâl tells you
Loneliness has weighed on your heart, but tradition reads this fal as a promise that a companion, like Rostam coming to the well, can arrive to lift you out. Take a moment of rest from the world's rush. Courage and wholeheartedness, not comfort-seeking, open the way forward, and a fresh breeze from somewhere new may bring you joy.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: none. qâfiye: -ami (marhami, hamdami, dami, âlami, rostami, bighami, âdami, hami, shabnami). Beyt 4 recalls the Shahnameh tale of Bizhan in the well, rescued by Rostam; beyt 8 echoes Rudaki's famous line on the Muliyan stream.
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| sine | chest dictionary | |
| مالامال | mâlâmâl | brimming, full to the top (لبالب) |
| dard | pain dictionary | |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| daryghâ | alas! dictionary | |
| marhami | a balm, a salve dictionary | |
| del | heart dictionary | |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| tanhâyi | loneliness dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| âmad | came dictionary | |
| khodâ | God; khodâ râ = for God's sake dictionary | |
| hamdami | a companion, a confidant dictionary | |
| چشم | cheshm | eye; cheshm dâshtan = to expect dictionary |
| âsâyesh | comfort, peace dictionary | |
| dârad | has; (with arze) shows dictionary | |
| sepehr | sky, the heavens dictionary | |
| sâghiyâ | O cupbearer (sâghi + vocative -â) dictionary | |
| jâmi | a cup dictionary | |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| deh | give! (= bedeh) (بده) dictionary | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| biyâsâyam | I may rest dictionary | |
| dami | a moment dictionary | |
| zireki | a clever person dictionary | |
| گفتم | goftam | I said dictionary |
| in | this dictionary | |
| bin | see! (= bebin) (ببین) dictionary | |
| khandid | laughed dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| گفت | goft | say (with natavân: cannot say); said dictionary |
| sukhtam | I burned dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| چاه | châh | well, pit dictionary |
| sabr | patience dictionary | |
| bahr | sake; ze bahr-e = for the sake of (برای) | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| sham' | candle dictionary | |
| shâh | king dictionary | |
| hâl | state, condition dictionary | |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| کو | ku | where is? (کجاست) dictionary |
| tarigh | way, path dictionary | |
| amn | safety, security dictionary | |
| balâst | is of misfortune (= balâ ast) dictionary | |
| rish | wounded (زخمی) dictionary | |
| bâd | may it be dictionary | |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| khâhad | will (future auxiliary) dictionary | |
| ahl | people (of) dictionary | |
| کام | kâm | wish, desire; be kâm = as one wishes dictionary |
| ناز | nâz | coquetry, airs dictionary |
| ku-ye | street, quarter (of) (کوچه) | |
| rendi | free-spirited life of the "rend" (a rogue who scorns hypocrisy) dictionary | |
| râh | way, road dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| rahrovi | a traveller on the path dictionary | |
| نه | na | not, no dictionary |
| khâmi | a raw, inexperienced person dictionary | |
| âlam | world dictionary | |
| khâki | earthly, made of earth dictionary | |
| نمی‌آید | nemiâyad | does not come; dar nemiâyad = does not enter dictionary |
| dast | hand dictionary | |
| âlami | a whole world dictionary | |
| sâkht | make (khâham sâkht = I will make) dictionary | |
| وز | v-az | and from (= va az) (و از) |
| نو | now | new dictionary |
| khiz | rise! (برخیز) | |
| khâter | mind, heart dictionary | |
| bedân | to that (point) (= be ân) (به آن) | |
| dahim | we give dictionary | |
| کز | k-az | that from (= ke az) (که از) |
| نسیمش | nasimash | its breeze dictionary |
| bu-ye | scent of (ezafe) dictionary | |
| ju | stream (جوی) | |
| âyad | comes, will come (می‌آید) dictionary | |
| hami | old prefix of continuing action (= mi-) (می) | |
| گریهٔ | gerye | weeping dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| sanjad | weighs, counts for dictionary | |
| پیش | pish | in the eyes of, for dictionary |
| esteghnâ-ye | self-sufficiency, aloofness of (بی‌نیازی) dictionary | |
| کاندر | k-andar | for in (= ke andar) (که در) |
| daryâ | sea dictionary | |
| نماید | namâyad | seems dictionary |
| هفت | haft | seven; haft keshvar = the seven climes, the whole world dictionary |
| shabnami | a drop of dew dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 470. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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