Hafiz: Gazal 148 "Epiphany" (From Persian)

Ghazal 148: Epiphany
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Time's eve: rays of your beauty breathed
Epiphany entire.
Love was made manifest and so
Set all the world afire.

Your face, revealed, saw angels had
No love, and lost control
With smitten honor and became
The flame that struck man's soul.

When reason made to light its lamp
From that love's flame, a bolt
Of jealous lightning gave the world
A stupefying jolt.

The poseur wanted to unveil
Mystery, but the long
Hand of the Unseen smashed him back
To where his sort belong.

Other's in fortune's lottery
Won wealth to satiate.
My grief-spent heart got grief alone
For love by lots of fate.

The high soul thirsting for the well
In your dimple's recess
Reached down and lay a hand in those
Locks with a fine caress.

The day that Hafiz wrote the book
"Love's Joy" for you, his pen
Crossed out each way by which a heart
Could know delight again.



The Original:

در ازل پرتو حسنت ز تجلی دم زد عشق پيدا شد و آتش به همه عالم زد
جلوه‌ای کرد رخت ديد ملک عشق نداشت عين آتش شد از اين غيرت و بر آدم زد
عقل می‌خواست کز آن شعله چراغ افروزد برق غيرت بدرخشيد و جهان برهم زد
مدعی خواست که آيد به تماشاگه راز دست غيب آمد و بر سينه نامحرم زد
ديگران قرعه قسمت همه بر عيش زدند دل غمديده ما بود که هم بر غم زد
جان علوی هوس چاه زنخدان تو داشت دست در حلقه آن زلف خم اندر خم زد
حافظ آن روز طربنامه عشق تو نوشت
که قلم بر سر اسباب دل خرم زد


Romanization:

Dar azal partaw-i husnat zi tajallī dam zad
'Išq paydā šud o ātaš ba hama 'ālam zad
Jalwaē kard ruxat dīd malak 'išq nadāšt
'Ayn-i ātaš šud az īn ɣayrat o bar ādam zad
'Aql mēxwāst kaz ān šu'la čarāɣ afrōzad
Barq-i ɣayrat bidiraxšēd o jahān barham zad
Mudda'ī xwāst ki āyad ba tamāšāgah-i rāz
Dast-i ɣayb āmad o bar sīna-i nāmahram zad
Dīgarān qur'a-i qismat hama bar 'ayš zadand
Dil-i ɣamdīda-i mā būd ki ham bar ɣam zad
Jān-i 'alwī hawas-i čāh-i zanaxdān-i to dāšt
Dast dar halqa-i ān zulf-i xam andar xam zad
Hāfiz ān rōz tarabnāma-i 'išq-i to nawašt
Ki qalam bar sar-i asbāb-i dil-i xurram zad

Saadi: Ghazal 14, An Aubade (From Persian)

A lovertine Aubade (or so I would think of it) from 13th century Persia.

Ghazal 14: An Aubade
By Saadi
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original Persian

Do they tap that untimely drum    
of dawn more speedily tonight?       
   (Or did the rooftop bird make some 
   mistake and not get morning right?)
One moment was it? Or all night   
sacked from our lives against our will?    
   Here we still are, lips locked on lips, 
   and much desire left to fulfill!
I now turn smiling, now turn shy,   
now full of joy, now choked with rue.   
   I fail to even intimate 
   the message I intend for you. 
If your foot deigns to touch my neck   
you honor me by standing near.   
   But for my low-laid head I've no
   welcome to offer steps so dear.
Now that good luck has finally made   
peace with us to a fare-thee-well,   
   the trashy men who liked to talk 
   trash about us can go to hell!
Saadi's a marked man now. Tell men,   
mystics and masses, near and far:   
   I'm an idolator! But, then,
   how goddesslike my idols are! 

Note:

The final line gives my modern lyric attitude. Explicit heterosexuality in a poem like this is alien to Saadi's aesthetic. Feel free to substitute "see how divine my idols are!" But I like how my way works in English.

The Original:



إمشب سبكتر مى زنند اين طبلِ بى هنگام را   يا وقتِ بى دارى غلط بودست مرغِ بام را
يك لحظه بود اين يا شبى كز عمرِ ما تاراج شد   ما همچنان لب بر لبى نابرگرفته كام را
هم تازەرويم هم خجل هم شادمان هم تنگدل   كز عهده بى رون آمدن نتوانم اين پيغام را
گر پاي بر فرقم نهى تشريفِ قربت مى دهى   جز سر نمى دانم نهاد از عذرِ اين اقدام را.
چون بختِ نيك انجام را با ما بكلى صلح شد   بگذار تا جان مى دهد بدگوى بد فرجام را
   سعدى علم شد در جهان، صوفى و عامى گو بدان
   ما بتپرستى مى كنيم آنگه چنين اصنام را

Тоҷикӣ:

Имшаб сабуктар мезананд ин табли беҳангомро,
Ё вақти бедорӣ ғалат будаст мурғи бомро?
Як лаҳза буд ин ё шабе, к-аз умри мо тороҷ шуд?
Мо ҳамчунон лаб бар лабе, нобаргирифта комро.
Ҳам тозарӯям, ҳам хиҷил, ҳам шодмон, ҳам тангдил,
К-аз ўҳда берун омадан натвонам ин пайғомро.
Гар пой бар фарқам ниҳӣ, ташрифи қурбат медиҳӣ,
Ҷуз сар намедонам ниҳодан узри ин иқдомро.
Чун бахти неканҷомро бо мо ба куллӣ сулҳ шуд,
Бигзор, то ҷон медиҳад бадгӯи бадфарҷомро.
Саъдӣ алам шуд дар ҷаҳон, сӯфиву омӣ гӯ бидон,
Мо бутпарастӣ мекунем, он гаҳ чунин асномро.

Romanization:

Imšab sabuktar mēzanand    
īn tabl-i bēhangāmrā   
  Yā waqt-i bēdārī ɣalat
  būdast murɣ-i bāmrā.

Yak lahza būd īn, yā šabē    
kaz 'umr-i mā tārāj šud   
  Mā hamčunān lab bar labē
  nābargirifta kāmrā

Ham tāzarōyam, ham xajil   
ham šādmān, ham tangdil   
  Kaz 'uhda bērūn āmadan
  natwānam īn payɣāmrā

Gar pāy bar farqam nahī    
tašrīf-i qurbat mēdahī   
  Juz sar namēdānam nihād
  az 'uzr-i īn iqdāmrā

Čūn baxt-i nēkanjāmrā    
bā mā ba kullī sulh šud   
  Bugzār tā jān mēdahad
  badgō-i badfarjāmrā

Sa'dī 'alam šud dar jahān   
sūfī o 'āmī gō bidān   
  Mā butparastī mēkunēm
  āngah čunīn asnāmrā.