Ghazal 77 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.
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COUPLET 1
بلبلی، برگِ گُلی خوش‌رنگ در مِنقار داشتو اندر آن برگ و نَوا، خوش ناله‌هایِ زار داشت
bolboli barg-e goli khoshrang dar menghâr dâsht / v-andar ân barg o navâ khosh nâle-hâ-ye zâr dâsht
A nightingale held the petal of a bright-colored rose in its beak, and though it had that petal and that provision, it was sobbing bitterly.
COUPLET 2
گفتمش: در عینِ وصل، این نالِه و فریاد چیست؟گفت ما را جلوه‌ی معشوق در این کار داشت
goftamash dar eyn-e vasl in nâle o faryâd chist / goft mâ râ jelve-ye ma'shugh dar in kâr dâsht
I asked it, "Why this moaning and crying in the very midst of union?" It said, "It is the beloved's radiant beauty that keeps me at this."
COUPLET 3
یار اگر نَنشست با ما نیست جای اعتراضپادشاهی کامران بود، از گدایی عار داشت
yâr agar nanshast bâ mâ nist jâ-ye e'terâz / pâdeshâhi kâmrân bud az gedâyi âr dâsht
If the beloved would not sit with us, there is no cause to complain: a king who has everything was ashamed to sit with a beggar.
COUPLET 4
درنمی‌گیرد نیاز و ناز ما با حُسن دوستخُرَّم آن کز نازنینان، بخت برخوردار داشت
dar nemigirad niyâz o nâz-e mâ bâ hosn-e dust / khorram ân k-az nâzaninân bakht-e barkhordâr dâsht
Our pleading and our pride have no effect on the friend's beauty. Happy is the one whose luck let them enjoy the favor of the lovely ones.
COUPLET 5
خیز تا بر کِلک آن نقاش، جان افشان کنیمکاین همه نقش عجب در گردش پرگار داشت
khiz tâ bar kelk-e ân naghghâsh jân afshân konim / k-in hame naghsh-e ajab dar gardesh-e pargâr dâsht
Rise, let us scatter our lives at the pen of that Painter, who held all these wonderful pictures in the turning of His compass.
COUPLET 6
گر مرید راه عشقی، فکر بدنامی مکنشِیخِ صَنعان، خِرقه رهن خانهٔ خَمّار داشت
gar morid-e râh-e eshghi fekr-e badnâmi makon / sheykh-e san'ân kherghe rahn-e khâne-ye khammâr dâsht
If you are a disciple on the path of love, do not worry about a bad name: Sheikh San'an left his Sufi cloak in pawn at the wine-seller's house.
COUPLET 7
وقت آن شیرین‌قلندر خوش که در اَطوارِ سِیرذکر تسبیح ملک در حلقه‌ی زُنّار داشت
vaght-e ân shirin-ghalandar khosh ke dar atvâr-e seyr / zekr-e tasbih-e malak dar halghe-ye zonnâr dâsht
Happy is that sweet wandering dervish who, in the stages of his journey, recited the angels' praises inside the circle of the infidel's belt.
COUPLET 8
چشم حافظ زیر بام قصر آن حوری‌سرشتشیوه‌ی جَنّاتُ تَجْری تَحْتِهَا الاَنهار داشت
cheshm-e Hâfez zir-e bâm-e ghasr-e ân huri-seresht / shive-ye jannâtu tajri tahtehal-anhâr dâsht
Under the roof of that houri-natured beauty's palace, Hafez's eye took on the look of "gardens beneath which rivers flow."
What this fâl tells you
Even when you are close to what you love, longing may not go away, and that is no fault in you. Tradition reads this fal as advice to let go of worry about other people's opinions and to follow your heart sincerely. Admire the beauty of the world's design; what is meant for you will come with grace, not through pleading.
A traditional-style reading for reflection and enjoyment.
How this ghazal is built
radif: dâsht. qâfiye: -âr (menghâr/zâr, kâr, âr, barkhordâr, pargâr, khammâr, zonnâr, anhâr). The last half-line quotes the Quran (jannâtun tajri min tahtihal-anhâr, "gardens beneath which rivers flow").
Key words
| Word | Say it | Meaning (modern Persian) |
|---|---|---|
| bolboli | a nightingale dictionary | |
| barg | petal, leaf; barg o navâ = means, provisions (pun) dictionary | |
| goli | a rose, a flower dictionary | |
| dar | in; door dictionary | |
| منقار | menghâr | beak dictionary |
| dâsht | had dictionary | |
| و | va / o | and dictionary |
| andar | in (= dar) (در) | |
| ân | that dictionary | |
| نوا | navâ | provision, means; also melody (pun) dictionary |
| khosh | well, sweetly; pleasant dictionary | |
| ناله‌های | nâle-hâ-ye | moans, laments dictionary |
| zâr | weeping, miserable dictionary | |
| گفتمش | goftamash | I said to him dictionary |
| eyn | the very essence of, pure dictionary | |
| in | this dictionary | |
| ناله | nâle | moaning, lament dictionary |
| فریاد | faryâd | cry, shout dictionary |
| گفت | goft | say (with natavân: cannot say); said dictionary |
| ما | mâ | we, us; our dictionary |
| jelve-ye | the display, radiance of dictionary | |
| معشوق | ma'shugh | the beloved dictionary |
| کار | kâr | work; affair, matter dictionary |
| یار | yâr | beloved; friend dictionary |
| agar | if dictionary | |
| ننشست | nanshast | did not sit dictionary |
| bâ | with dictionary | |
| نیست | nist | is not; there is not dictionary |
| jâ-ye | place of; be jâ-ye = toward, for (someone) (در حق) dictionary | |
| e'terâz | objection, complaint dictionary | |
| bud | was dictionary | |
| gedâyi | a beggar dictionary | |
| نیاز | niyâz | need, humble pleading dictionary |
| ناز | nâz | coquetry, airs dictionary |
| hosn | beauty dictionary | |
| dust | friend; (in Hafez) the beloved, or God dictionary | |
| khorram | cheerful dictionary | |
| کز | k-az | that from (= ke az) (که از) |
| nâzaninân | lovely ones, darlings dictionary | |
| bakht | fortune, luck dictionary | |
| khiz | rise! (برخیز) | |
| tâ | to, until; so that dictionary | |
| bar | on, upon dictionary | |
| کلک | kelk | reed pen (قلم) |
| naghghâsh | painter; here God, the Creator dictionary | |
| jân | life, soul dictionary | |
| کنیم | konim | let us do dictionary |
| کاین | k-in | that these (= ke in) (که این) |
| همه | hame | all, whole dictionary |
| نقش | naghsh | image, shape dictionary |
| ajab | wonder, strange dictionary | |
| گردش | gardash | his/her dust (the dust of departure) dictionary |
| پرگار | pargâr | compass (for drawing circles) dictionary |
| گر | gar | if (= agar) (اگر) dictionary |
| مرید | morid | disciple dictionary |
| râh | way, road dictionary | |
| فکر | fekr | thought dictionary |
| مکن | makon | do not do! (نکن) dictionary |
| sheykh | sheikh, religious elder dictionary | |
| kherghe | dervish's cloak, Sufi robe dictionary | |
| khâne | house dictionary | |
| وقت | vaght | time, state; vaght-e X khosh = happy is X dictionary |
| zekr | chanting God's name (Sufi practice) dictionary | |
| tasbih | praising God; rosary dictionary | |
| ملک | malak | angel dictionary |
| halghe-ye | circle, ring of dictionary | |
| چشم | cheshm | eye dictionary |
| Hâfez | Hafez, the poet's pen name (takhallos); literally "one who knows the Quran by heart" dictionary | |
| zir | under dictionary | |
| قصر | ghasr | palace dictionary |
| shive-ye | manner, way of dictionary |
Persian text: Ganjoor (ganjoor.net), Hafez, ghazal 77. Transliteration, translation, glosses and reading: Learn Persian Online.
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