Ghazal 73 of Hafez (12 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
روشن از پرتوِ رویت نظری نیست که نیستمِنَّت خاکِ درت بر بصری نیست که نیست
rowshan az parto-ye rut nazari nist ke nist / mennat-e khâk-e darat bar basari nist ke nist
There is no eye that is not lit by the rays of your face, and no sight that does not owe a debt to the dust of your door.
COUPLET 2
ناظرِ روی تو صاحب نظرانند آریسِرِّ گیسوی تو در هیچ سَری نیست که نیست
nâzer-e ru-ye to sâheb-nazarânand âri / serr-e gisu-ye to dar hich sari nist ke nist
Yes, it is people of true vision who gaze at your face; yet there is no head without the secret of your tresses in it.
COUPLET 3
اشکِ غَمّازِ من ار سرخ برآمد چه عجب؟خجل از کردهٔ خود پرده دری نیست که نیست
ashk-e ghammâz-e man ar sorkh bar âmad che ajab / khejel az karde-ye khod parde-dari nist ke nist
If my tell-tale tears came out red, why be surprised? Every one who tears open a veil is ashamed of what he has done.
COUPLET 4
تا به دامن ننشیند ز نسیمش گَردیسیل خیز از نظرم ره‌گذری نیست که نیست
tâ be dâman nanshinad ze nasimash gardi / seyl-khiz az nazaram rahgozari nist ke nist
So that not a speck of dust from the breeze may settle on your hem, there is no road my eyes have not flooded.
COUPLET 5
تا دم از شامِ سرِ زلفِ تو هر جا نزنندبا صبا گفت و شنیدم سحری نیست که نیست
tâ dam az shâm-e sar-e zolf-e to har jâ nazanand / bâ sabâ goft o shenidam sahari nist ke nist
So that people do not speak everywhere of the night-dark tip of your curls, there is no dawn when I do not plead with the morning breeze.
COUPLET 6
من از این طالع شوریده بِرَنجَم ور نیبهره‌مند از سَرِ کویت دگری نیست که نیست
man az in tâle'-e shuride beranjam var na / bahremand az sar-e kuyat digari nist ke nist
It is only my own troubled fortune I resent; otherwise there is no one who has not had a share of your street.
COUPLET 7
از حیایِ لبِ شیرینِ تو ای چشمهٔ نوشغرق آب و عرق اکنون شکری نیست که نیست
az hayâ-ye lab-e shirin-e to ey cheshme-ye nush / gharg-e âb o aragh aknun shekari nist ke nist
O fountain of nectar, out of shame before your sweet lips there is no sugar now that is not drowned in water and sweat.
COUPLET 8
مصلحت نیست که از پرده برون افتد رازور نه در مجلسِ رندان خبری نیست که نیست
maslahat nist ke az parde borun oftad râz / var na dar majles-e rendân khabari nist ke nist
It is not wise for the secret to fall out from behind the curtain; otherwise, there is no news that is not known in the gathering of the free spirits.
COUPLET 9
شیر در بادیهٔ عشق تو روباه شودآه از این راه که در وی خطری نیست که نیست
shir dar bâdiye-ye eshgh-e to rubâh shavad / âh az in râh ke dar vey khatari nist ke nist
In the desert of your love the lion turns into a fox. Alas for this road, where every danger lies in wait.
COUPLET 10
آب چشمم که بر او مِنَّت خاکِ درِ توستزیرِ صد مِنَّتِ او خاکِ دری نیست که نیست
âb-e cheshmam ke bar u mennat-e khâk-e dar-e to-st / zir-e sad mennat-e u khâk-e dari nist ke nist
My tears owe a debt to the dust of your door, yet there is no doorway whose dust is not a hundred times in their debt.
COUPLET 11
از وجودم قَدَری نام و نشان هست که هستور نه از ضعف در آن جا اثری نیست که نیست
az vojudam ghadari nâm o neshân hast ke hast / var na az za'f dar ânjâ asari nist ke nist
Of my being, a little name and trace remains, it is true; otherwise, from weakness, nothing at all is left of me there.
COUPLET 12
غیر از این نکته که حافظ ز تو ناخشنود استدر سراپای وجودت هنری نیست که نیست
gheyr az in nokte ke Hâfez ze to nâkhoshnud ast / dar sarâpâ-ye vojudat honari nist ke nist
Apart from this one point, that Hafez is not happy with you, there is no virtue that is not found from head to toe in you.
What this fâl tells you
Everyone around you already feels the light you carry, even if you think it goes unseen. Tradition reads this fal as praise mixed with gentle complaint: what you love is full of good qualities, and only a small grievance stands between you. Keep a secret where it belongs, be brave on a hard road, and do not let one disappointment hide all the good.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: nist ke nist (in beyt 11, hast ke hast). qâfiye: -ari (nazari, basari, sari, dari, rahgozari, sahari, digari, shekari, khabari, khatari, asari, honari). "X nist ke nist" means "every single X", "there is no X that is not so".
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| rowshan | lit, bright dictionary | |
| پرتو | parto | ray, light dictionary |
| rut | your face (= ru-ye to) dictionary | |
| nazari | a look; an eye dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| khâk | dust, earth dictionary | |
| darat | your door dictionary | |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| ناظر | nâzer | one who looks, beholder dictionary |
| ru-ye | face of (ezafe) (چهره) dictionary | |
| to | you dictionary | |
| sâheb | owner, master; one who has dictionary | |
| نظرانند | nazarânand | sâheb-nazarân = people of insight, true connoisseurs + are dictionary |
| âri | yes (بله) | |
| serr | secret (راز) | |
| gisu-ye | tresses of, long hair of dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| هیچ | hich | any; no dictionary |
| sari | a head dictionary | |
| ashk | tear dictionary | |
| من | man | I, me dictionary |
| ar | if (= agar) (اگر) | |
| sorkh | red (tears of blood) dictionary | |
| چه | che | what; how much! dictionary |
| ajab | wonder, strange dictionary | |
| khejel | ashamed (شرمنده) dictionary | |
| کردهٔ | karde | deed, what one has done dictionary |
| khod | self; here "and indeed, after all" dictionary | |
| پرده | parde | curtain, veil dictionary |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| be | to; for; with; in, by dictionary | |
| ننشیند | nanshinad | does not settle dictionary |
| ze | from, of (= az) (از) | |
| نسیمش | nasimash | its breeze dictionary |
| gardi | some dust, a speck of dust dictionary | |
| seyl | flood dictionary | |
| نظرم | nazaram | my eye dictionary |
| dam | breath; dam zadan az = to speak of dictionary | |
| shâm | evening, night (dark curls) dictionary | |
| sar | head; tip, end; sar-e kuy = the beloved's street dictionary | |
| zolf | curl, lock of hair dictionary | |
| هر | har | every dictionary |
| jâ | place dictionary | |
| نزنند | nazanand | do not strike; here "do not speak (of)" dictionary |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| sabâ | the morning breeze, which carries messages between lovers in poetry (نسیم صبح) | |
| گفت | goft | goft o shenid = conversation, talk dictionary |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| shenidam | hearing; goft o shenidam = my talk with dictionary | |
| sahari | a dawn dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| tâle' | horoscope, fate, fortune (بخت) dictionary | |
| shuride | troubled, distraught dictionary | |
| beranjam | I am hurt, I resent dictionary | |
| ور | var | and if; var na = otherwise (= va agar) (وگرنه) |
| na | not; var na = otherwise (نه) | |
| کویت | kuyat | your street dictionary |
| digari | another person (= digari) (دیگری) | |
| لب | lab | lip dictionary |
| ey | O (vocative) dictionary | |
| چشمهٔ | cheshme | spring, fountain dictionary |
| نوش | nush | drink! (= benush) (بنوش) dictionary |
| ghargh | drowned, immersed dictionary | |
| âb | water; stream dictionary | |
| aragh | sweat dictionary | |
| aknun | now (حالا) dictionary | |
| shekari | a piece of sugar dictionary | |
| borun | out (= birun) (بیرون) dictionary | |
| oftad | falls; ghabul oftâdan = to be accepted (بیفتد) dictionary | |
| râz | secret dictionary | |
| نه | na | not, no dictionary |
| مجلس | majles | gathering, feast dictionary |
| rendân | free spirits, rogues who scorn hypocrisy dictionary | |
| khabari | a piece of news dictionary | |
| shir | lion dictionary | |
| rubâh | fox dictionary | |
| shavad | becomes dictionary | |
| râh | way, road dictionary | |
| vey | him, it (= u) (او) | |
| khatari | a danger dictionary | |
| چشمم | cheshmam | my eye dictionary |
| u | him / her (Persian does not mark gender) dictionary | |
| zir | under dictionary | |
| sad | hundred dictionary | |
| dari | a door, a doorway dictionary | |
| ghadari | a little dictionary | |
| نام | nâm | name, fame dictionary |
| نشان | neshân | sign dictionary |
| هست | hast | there is dictionary |
| za'f | weakness dictionary | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| asari | a trace dictionary | |
| gheyr | other; gheyr az = apart from dictionary | |
| نکته | nokte | point, subtle point dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| ast | is dictionary | |
| honari | a skill, a virtue dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 73. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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