Hafiz: Ghazal 220 "Aspirations" (From Persian)

Ghazal 220 "Aspirations" 
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Although our city preacher won't　
like hearing it from me,　
　　He'll never be a Muslim with　
　　this much hypocrisy.　
Learn to get drunk, be a gentleman　
not a dumb animal　
　　That cannot drink a drop of wine 　
　　or be a man at all. 　
The essence must be unalloyed　
to make His grace our own,　
　　Or from our clay no pearls will come
　　nor coral come from stone. 　
The Almighty shall fulfill His will.　
Rejoice, my heart! No con　
　　Or devilry can turn a demon　
　　into a Solomon. 　
Mine is the noble art of love.　　
I hope against belief　　
　　This craft won't bring, as others brought,　　
　　despondency and grief.　　
Last night he said "Tomorrow I　　
will grant your heart's desire"　　
　　God let him have no change of heart
　　nor let him be a liar.
May God add a good heart to all　　
your physical attraction　　
　　So you'll no longer torment me 
　　with harrowing distraction.
Hafiz! Unless a mote of dust　　
aspires to mighty height,　　
　　It is not drawn to the true fount
　　from which the sun draws light.


Prose paraphrase:

(1) Though the city preacher won't find it easy to hear these words, as long as he practices sophistry and hypocrisy, he'll never be a real Muslim. (2) Train yourself in dissolute drunkenness, and be a gentleman to others. For not so artful is the beast that does not drink wine, or become human. (3) There must be a pure-gemmed essence in order to be a vessel for holy grace, for without it stone and clay will not become pearl and coral. (4) He of the Greatest Name does his work - be glad O heart, for by no trick or fraud can a devil ever become Solomon. (5) I practice love, and hope that this noble art will not, as other arts have done, cause me chagrin. (6)  Last night he was saying "Tomorrow I will give you your heart's desire." Oh God, contrive to keep him from having compunction about doing so! (7) For my own sake I pray God include in your beauty a good disposition, so that my mind is no longer distraught and discombobulated. (8) So long as the dustmote lacks lofty aspiration and drive, Hafiz, it is not in quest for the source that is the resplendent sun's own dayspring.   

Notes:

Verse 1: The word for hypocrisy, sālūs is identical to one of the words for the Christian trinity (though they are spelled differently in Perso-Arabic script.) Hypocrisy, for Hafiz, is a cardinal sin against the divine, and this may be a punny way of equating it with the dilution of monotheism, as the triune God of Christianity was, and indeed still is, generally seen by Muslims as a sketchy traducement of God's essential oneness. I myself get the sense that such punctilios as the dubious nature of the trinity (as well as all the things that you have to do or think to be a "true" Muslim) might have been precisely the sort of thing a pietistic preacher would rant about from the pulpit. The real sin isn't the Christian's sālūs (trinity) that would offend the preacher, but rather the preacher's own sālūs (hypocrisy) that offends Hafiz. Thus the preacher who might rant about what makes a proper Muslim is himself failing to measure up.          

Verse 3: See Qur'an [55:19-22]

Verse 7:  Many recensions of this poem have husn-i xulqē zi Xudā mētalabam xōy-i turā "I seek of God a fine disposition for your character", which does not make overmuch sense as xulq and xōy are more or less synonyms. Khanlārī prefers the variant ending in husn-i turā "to your beauty" which seems much more compelling to me. This version makes it clear that the speaker is asking for the beloved to be as good in heart as he is good to look at, for if so he will satisfy the lover's desire rather than making him yearn tormentedly. It also adds a nice bit of wordplay. For ḥusn-i xulq is also a technical term for "virtue of character" in a religious and ethical sense. Hafiz, though, is enjoining the beloved to keep his word and do something which, however pleasurable, is rather at odds with what the jurist would deem virtuous.       


The Original:

گر چه بر واعظ شهر این سخن آسان نشود تا ریا ورزد و سالوس مسلمان نشود

رندی آموز و کرم کن که نه چندان هنر است حیوانی که ننوشد می و انسان نشود

گوهر پاک بباید که شود قابل فیض ور نه هر سنگ و گلی لوءلوء و مرجان نشود

اسم اعظم بکند کار خود ای دل خوش باش که به تلبیس و حیل دیو سليمان نشود

عشق می‌ورزم و امید که این فن شریف چون هنرهای دگر موجب حرمان نشود

دوش می‌گفت که فردا بدهم کام دلت سببی ساز خدایا که پشیمان نشود

حسن خلقی ز خدا می‌طلبم حسن ترا تا دگر خاطر ما از تو پریشان نشود

ذره را تا نبود همت عالی حافظ
طالب چشمه خورشید درخشان نشود

Romanization:

Gar či bar wā'iz-i šahr īn suxan āsān našawad
Tā riā warzad u sālūs musalmān našawad
Rindī āmōz u karam kun ki na čandān hunarast
Hayawānē ki nanōšad may u insān našawad
Gawhar-i pāk bibāyad, ki šawad qābil-i fayz,
War na har sang u gilē lu'lu' u marjān našawad.
Ism-i a'zam bukunad kār-i xwad ay dil, xwaš bāš
Ki ba talbīs u hayal dēw Sulaymān našawad
'Išq mēwarzam u ummēd ki īn fann-i šarīf
Čūn hunarhā-i digar mawjib-i hirmān našawad
Dōš mēguft ki fardā bidiham kām-i dilat
Sababē sāz Xudāyā ki pašēmān našawad
Husn-i xulqē zi Xudā mētalabam husn-i turā
Tā digar xātar-i mā az tu parēšān našawad
Zurrarā tā nabuwad himmat-i 'ālī hāfiz
Tālib-i čašma-i xwaršēd-i duruxšān našawad

Тоҷикӣ:

Гарчи бар воизи шаҳр ин сухан осон нашавад, 

То риё варзаду солус, мусулмон нашавад. 

Риндӣ омӯзу карам кун, ки на чандон ҳунар аст, 

Ҳаявоне, ки нанӯшад маю инсон нашавад. 

Гавҳари пок бибояд, ки шавад қобили файз, 

Варна ҳар сангу гиле лӯълӯву марҷон нашавад. 

Исми аъзам бикунад кори худ, эй дил, хуш бош 

Ки ба талбису ҳиял дев Сулаймон нашавад. 

Ишқ меварзаму уммед, ки ин фанни шариф, 

Чун ҳунарҳои дигар мӯҷиби хирмон нашавад. 

Дӯш мегуфт, ки фардо бидиҳам коми дилат, 

Сабабе соз, Худоё, ки пашемон нашавад. 

Ҳусни хулқе зи Худо металабам ҳусни туро, 

То дигар хотири мо аз ту парешон нашавад. 

Зарраро то набувад ҳиммати олӣ, Ҳофиз, 

Толиби чашмаи хуршеди дурахшон нашавад. 

Hafiz: Ghazal 40 "Thanks be to God..." (From Persian)

Ghazal 40: "Thanks be to God..." 
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Thanks be to God that at long last the wine-shop's door　　
　　Is open, since it's what I'm longing, headed for.
The jars are clamoring, bubbling with intoxication.　　
　　The wine in there is real and not a metaphor.
It brings me drunkenness and pride and dissipation　　
　　I bring my helplessness, my desperate need for more.
A secret I've not told to others, nor will tell,　　
　　I'll tell my Friend with whom a secret is secure.
It's no short story. It describes each twist and turn　　
　　In my beloved's hair. For lovers have much lore.
Majnún's heart fell for Layla's curls, as King Mahmoud's　　
　　Face fell before Ayáz's feet forevermore.
I, like a hawk, have sealed my eyes to all this world,　　
　　To catch sight of your face, the beauty I adore.
Whoever wanders in the Ka'ba of your street,　　
　　Your eyebrow is the Qibla he must pray before. 
        　　Friends who would know why humbled Hafiz' heart is burning,
　　　　Ask candles why they melt about a burning core.

The Original:

المنة لله که در میکده باز است　　زان رو که مرا بر در او روی نیاز است

خم‌ها همه در جوش و خروشند ز مستی　　وان می که در آن جاست حقیقت نه مجاز است

از وی همه مستی و غرور است و تکبر　　وز ما همه بیچارگی و عجز و نیاز است

رازی که بر غیر نگفتیم و نگوییم　　با دوست بگوییم که او محرم راز است

شرح شکن زلف خم اندر خم جانان　　کوته نتوان کرد که این قصه دراز است

بار دل مجنون و خم طرۀ لیلی　　رخسارۀ محمود و کف پای ایاز است

بردوخته‌ام دیده چو باز از همه عالم　　تا دیده من بر رخ زیبای تو باز است

در کعبۀ کوی تو هر آن کس که بیاید　　از قبلۀ ابروی تو در عین نماز است

　　　　　　ای مجلسیان سوز دل حافظ مسکین   

　　　　　　از شمع بپرسید که در سوز و گداز است

Tajik Cyrillic: 

Алминнату лиллаҳ, ки дари майкада боз аст, 

3-он рӯ, ки маро бар дари ӯ рӯи ниёз аст. 

Хумҳо ҳама дар ҷӯшу хурӯшанд зи мастӣ 

В-он май, ки дар он ҷост, ҳақиқат, на маҷоз аст. 

Аз вай ҳама мастиву ғурур асту такаббур 

В-аз мо ҳама бечорагиву аҷзу ниёз аст. 

Розе, ки бари ғайр нагуфтему нагӯем, 

Бо дӯст бигӯем, ки ӯ маҳрами роз аст. 

Шарҳи шикани зулфи хам андар хами ҷонон 

Кӯтаҳ натавон кард, ки ин қисса дароз аст. 

Бори дили Маҷнуну хами турраи Лайлӣ, 

Рухсораи Маҳмуду кафи пои Аёз аст. 

Бардӯхтаам дида, чу боз, аз ҳама олам, 

То дидаи ман бар рухи зебои ту боз аст. 

Дар Каъбаи кӯи ту ҳар он кас, ки биёяд, 

Аз Қиблаи абрӯи ту дар айни намоз аст. 

Эй маҷлисиён, сӯзи дили Ҳофизи мискин 

Аз шамъ бипурсед, ки дар сӯзу гудоз аст.

Romanization:

Alminnatulillah ki dar-i maykada bāzast,
Zān rō, ki marā bar dar-i ō rōy-i niyāzast.
Xumhā hama dar jōš o xurōšand zi mastī
Wān may, ki dar ānjāst, haqīqat, na majāzast.
Az way hama mastī o ɣurūrast o takabbur
Waz mā hama bēčāragī o 'ajz o niyāzast.
Rāzē ki bar-i ɣayr naguftēm o nagōyēm,
Bā dōst bigōyēm, ki ō mahram-i rāzast.
Šarh-i šikan-i zulf-i xam andar xam-i jānān
Kōtah natawān kard, ki īn qissa darāzast.
Bār-i dil-i Majnūn o xam-i turra-i Laylī
Ruxsāra-i Mahmūd o kaf-i pāy-i Ayāzast.
Bardōxtaam dīda, čo bāz, az hama 'ālam,
Tā dīda-i man bar rux-i zēbā-i to bāzast.
Dar Ka'ba-i kōy-i to har ān kas ki biāyad
Az qibla-i abrō-i to dar 'ayn-i namāzast
Ay majlisīān, sōz-i dil-i Hāfiz-i maskīn
Az šam' bipursēd, ki dar sōz o gudāzast. 

Hafiz: Ghazal 246 "The Night of Power" (From Persian)

The Night of Power, or šab-i qadr (laylatu l-qadr in Arabic) is the night on which, according to Islamic mythology, the first revelations of the Qur'an were made to the prophet Muhammad via the angel Gabriel. Hafez toys with the the term by putting it in an amatory context, while also reinforcing its religious aspect (three of the lines are actually written in Arabic, one of which is an almost exact quotation from the Qur'ān.) The Sufi overtones which had been forced on the Persian lyric vocabulary by the mystical tradition allow both the religious and amatory implications to coexist in quite harmonious yet paradoxical, and surely intentional, balance and tension. The age-old question of whether Hafiz is being amatory or spiritual is badly framed and worse than useless when it comes to poems of his like this one, and the reader would be well-advised to keep in mind that a key feature of Hafez' aesthetic is to undermine notions of consistency. You don't know what the meaning of the poem really is, because there really isn't any one meaning.  Hafiz would be the first to remind us that trying to make too much sense of something, like why I seem to have spelled his name two different ways in this paragraph, might just ruin the fun, and that the meaning of a poem, like the meaning of life itself, does not need to be completely understood for you to enjoy it.

Ghazal 246: The Night of Power
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman
Click to hear me recite the original Persian

It is the Night of Power, the scroll　 　
Of loss is rolled away.　　
　　Salam. All through the night is peace.
　　Peace until break of day.
My heart in travel on the path 　　
Of love, be strong and true.　　
　　You are to be requited for
　　Each step along that way.
And even though you wound me with　　
Disdain and banishment,　　
　　I'll not repent of what I am:
　　A wanton debauché. 
My heart is gone. I caught not one　　
Sight of its sweet thief's face.　　
　　Such tyranny! Such heartlessness!
　　What else is there to say? 
Dear Lord, O Lord! Restore the light　　
Of morning to my heart.　　
　　The dark of separation's night
　　Has wiped my sight away. 
Hafiz, endure this faithless torment　　
If you seek love and faith.　　
　　Profit in any business means
　　An up-front cost to pay.

The Original: 

شب قدر است و طی شد نامۀ هجر
 سلامٌ فيه حتی مطلع الفجر

دلا در عاشقی ثابت قدم باش  
که در اين ره نباشد کار بی اجر

من از رندی نخواهم کرد توبه  
ولو آذيتنی بالهجر والحجر

برآی ای صبح روشن دل خدارا  
که بس تاريک می‌بينم شب هجر

دلم رفت و نديدم روی دلدار
 فغان از اين تطاول آه از اين زجر

وفا خواهی جفاکش باش حافظ

فإنّ الربح و الخسران فی التجر

Tajik Cyrillic:

Шаби қадрасту тай шуд номаи ҳаҷр,
Саломун фиҳи ҳатто матлаъ-ил фаҷр.
Дило, дар ошиқӣ собитқадам бош,
Ки дар ин раҳ набошад кори бе аҷр.
Ман аз риндӣ нахоҳам кард тавба,
Валав озайтанӣ билҳачри валҳаҷр,
Барой, ай субҳи рӯшандил, Худоро,
Ки бас торик мебинам шаби хаҷр.
Дилам рафту надидам рӯи дилдор,
Фиғон аз ин татовул, оҳ аз ин заҷр.
Вафо хоҳӣ, ҷафокаш бош, Ҳофиз
Фаиннал рабҳа вал ҳисрона филтаҷр.

Romanization:

Šab-i qadr ast u tay šud nāma-i hajr.
Salāmun fīhi ħattā maṭlaˁi l-fajr.
Dilā, dar 'āšiqī sābitqadam bāš,
Ki dar īn rah nabāšad kār-i bē'ajr.
Man az rindī naxwāham kard tawba,
Wa-law āðaytanī bi-l-hijri wa-l-ħajr.
Barāy, ay subh-i rōšandil, xudārā,
Ki bas tārīk mēbīnam, šab-i hajr.
Dilam raft o nadīdam rōy-i dildār.
Fiɣān az īn tatāwul, āh az īn zajr.
Wafā xwāhī, jafākaš bāš, Hāfiz,
Fa'inna l-ribħa wa-l-xusrāna fī l-tajr.

Hafiz: Ghazal 136 "The Grail of Jamshed" (From Persian)

This poem is one of very few ghazals that could in any sense be called "narrative." There is a discernible course of events, beginning with a search which leads the speaker to the Wineshop, where a conversation with the proprietor occurs. The substance of that conversation can be interpreted in various ways, depending to some degree on editorial choices. Most overtly, the topic is the nature of mystical gnosis and how it should and should not be transmitted. Read more loosely, one can see in it a discussion of how openly subversive one can be without endangering one's own life. And there are other interpretations galore. Myself, I find it most illuminating to see the figure of Hallāj as an example of how a charlatan can use the truth (or The Truth) in dishonest and self-serving ways. Or, as Blake put it "a truth that's told with bad intent/ beats all the lies you can invent."

It would be reasonable to suppose that an overtly and unarguably narrative ghazal would present fewer transmission problems than most of Hafiz' lyric poems, since the structure would limit the accretion and transposition of verses. Such a supposition, however, would be quite mistaken. The manuscripts differ in the ordering, number, and content of the verses in this poem as much as any other in Hafiz' divan. The only difference is that, because the poem is narrative and depends on the cumulative effect of verses in their linear totality, the variations matter all the more. The different verse-orderings found in the manuscripts of the poem, the different verses excluded or included in them, and the different variants found for the same verse, alter the poem's meaning considerably.


Ghazal 136: The Grail of Jamshed
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

For years, my questing heart kept asking me　
　　 where on earth Jamshed's ancient grail could be.
In search of something it already had,　
　　 it supplicated strangers ceaselessly.
It sought a pearl that slipped the temporal shell　
　　 from wayward men that maunder by the sea.
Last night I brought the Wineshop's Sage my problem,　
　　that where I had been blinded, he might see.　
I saw him, laughing, lift a cup of wine　
　　 wherein a thousand visions answered me.
Said I to him: "When did God gift you with　
　　 this grail revealing all reality?"
Said he: "The day His Mind Almighty raised　
　　the heavens' vault of lapis lazuli."
Said he: "Recall the smitten Al-Hallaj  　
　　they hanged on high upon the gallows tree...
His crime was that he told the world of things　
　　meant to be contemplated privately.
His heart was gone for God, though God was there.　
　　He cried O God because he could not see.
His heart held truth, as soil conceals a seed.　
　　His mind put out glossed leaflets, like a tree.
Moses' white hand would shame his sleights of hand　
　　As once it foiled Pharaonic sorcery.
Were the Holy Ghost to lend its grace again, 　
　　others like Christ would help the blind to see."　
Said I: "Why do the locks of beauty bind me?"　
　　"Because of Hafiz' love-crazed heart" said he.

Notes:

V 1: Jamshed's goblet revealed everything in the world to anyone who looked into it

V 8: Hallāj, a martyr and mystic who was executed in 922 AD in Baghdad, supposedly for having declared ana l-ḥaqq "I am God the Truth." His sleight of hand tricks, which he touted as miracles, are referred to later in the poem.


The Original:

سال ها دل طلبِ جامِ جم از ما مى كرد   وآنچه خود داشت زِ بيگانه تمنّا مى كرد

گَوهَرى كَز صدفِ كون و مكان بيرون است   طلب از گمشدگانِ لبِ دريا مى كرد

مشكلِ خويش بر پيرِ مغان بردم دوش   كو بتأييدِ نظر حلِّ معمّا مى كرد

ديدمش خرَّم و خوش دل قدحِ باده به دست   وندر آن آينه صد گونه تماشا مى كرد

گفت اين جامِ جهان بين به تو كَى داد حكيم   گفت آن روز كه اين گمبدِ مينا مى كرد

گفت آن يار كزو گشت سرِ دار بلند   جرمش اين بود كه اسرار هويدا مى كرد

بيدلى در همه احوال خدا با او بود   او نميديدش و از دور خدايا مى كرد
آنكه چون غنچه دلش رازِ حقيقت بنهفت ورقِ خاطر از اين نكته محشّا مى كرد

اين همه شعبدۀ عقل كه مى كرد اينجا ساحرى پيش عصا و يدِ بيضا مى كرد

فيضِ روح القدس ار باز مدد فرمايد   ديگران هم بكنند آنچه مسيحا مى كرد

گفتمش سلسلۀ زلفِ بتان از پىِ چيست؟   

گفت حافظ گله اى از دلِ شيدا مى كرد

Romanization:

Sālhā dil talab-i jām-i jām az mā mēkard
Wān či xwad dāšt zi bēgāna tamannā mēkard
Gōharē, kaz sadaf-i kawn o makān bērūnast,
Talab az gumšudagān-i lab-i daryā mēkard.
Muškil-i xwēš bar pīr- muɣān burdam dōš,
Kō ba ta'yīd-i nazar hall-i mu'ammā mēkard.
Dīdamaš xurram o xwašdil qadah-i bāda ba dast
Wandar ān āyina sad gūna tamāšā mēkard
Guftam "īn jām-i jahānbīn ba to kay dād hakīm"
Guft "ān rōz ki īn gumbad-i mīnā mēkard"
Guft "ān yār kaz ō gašt sar-i dār buland
Jurmaš īn būd ki asrār huwaydā mēkard
Ānki čūn ɣunča dilaš rāz-i haqīqat binahuft
Waraq-i xātir az īn nukta muhaššā mēkard
Bēdilē dar hama ahwāl xudā bā ō būd
Ō namēdīdaš o az dūr xudāyā mēkard.
Īn hama šu'bada-i 'aql ki mēkard īnjā
Sāhirī pēš-i 'asā o yad-i bayzā mēkard
Fayz-i rūh-ul-qudus ar bāz madad farmāyad
Dīgarān ham bukunand ān či masīhā mēkard
Guftamaš: "Silsila-i zulf-i butān az pay-i čīst?"
Guft: "Hāfiz gilaē az dil-i šaydā mēkard."

Hafiz: Ghazal 46 "On Time and the Times" (From Persian)

Ghazal 46: "On Time and the Times"
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

These days the only flawless friends I have
    are a volume of verse and the volume of wine in my flask.
Travel alone, for the pass to salvation is narrow;
    and seize the glass, for dear life has no going back.
Not I alone in the world am beset by inaction.
    Theologians ache, too, from theories minus acts.
In this havoc-racked way, the eye of reason knows
    that the world and its handiwork are not to last.
My heart held high hope of reunion, but
    Death, on life's highway, is hope's highwayman.
Catch hold of a beauty's curls! Spread not the myth
    that "the fault is in the stars and out of your hands." 
        In no age will you find our hafiz sober. He's out
        Drunk on the wine of times ere times began.

The Original:

Perso-Arabic:

در این زمانه رفیقی که خالی از خلل است صراحی می ناب و سفینه غزل است
جریده رو، که گذرگاه عافیت تنگ است  پیاله گیر، که عمر عزیز بی‌بدل است
نه من ز بی عملی در جهان ملولم و بس ملالت علما هم ز علم بی عمل است
به چشم عقل در این رهگذار پرآشوب جهان و کار جهان بی‌ثبات و بی‌محل است
دلم امید فراوان به وصل روی تو داشت ولی اجل به ره عمر رهزن امل است
بگیر طره مه چهره‌ای و قصه مخوان که سعد و نحس ز تاثیر زهره و زحل است!
به هیچ دور نخواهند یافت هشیارش
چنین که حافظ ما مست باده ازل است

Tajik Cyrillic:

Дар ин замона рафиқе, ки холӣ аз халал аст, 

   Суроҳии майи нобу сафинаи ғазал аст. 

Ҷарида, рав, ки гузаргоҳи офият танг аст, 

   Пиёла гир, ки умри азиз бебадал аст. 

На ман зи беамалӣ дар ҷаҳон малуламу бас, 

   Малолати уламо ҳам зи илми беамал аст. 

Ба чашми ақл дар ин раҳгузори пурошӯб 

   Ҷаҳону кори ҷаҳон бесуботу бемаҳал аст. 

Дилам умеди фаровон ба васли рӯи ту дошт, 

   Вале аҷал ба раҳи умр раҳзани амал аст. 

Бигир турраи маҳчеҳраеву қисса махон, 

   Ки саъду наҳс зи таъсири Зӯҳраву Зуҳал аст! 

      Ба хеҷ давр нахоҳанд ёфт ҳушёрраш, 

      Чунин, ки Ҳофизи мо масти бодаи азал аст. 

Romanization:

Dar īn zamāna rafīqē, ki xālī az xalalast,
Surāhī-i may-i nāb o safīna-i ɣazalast. 
Jarīda raw, ki guzargāh-i 'āfiyat tangast, 
Piyāla gīr, ki 'umr-i 'azīz bēbadalast.
Na man zi bē'amalī dar jahān malūlam u bas
Malālat-i 'ulamā ham zi 'ilm-i bē'amalast.
Ba čašm-i 'aql dar īn rahguzār-i purāšōb
Jahān o kār-i jahān bēsabāt o bēmahalast. 
Dilam umēd-i farāwān ba wasl-i rō-i to dašt,
Walē ajal ba rah-i 'umr rahzan-i amalast.
Bigīr turra-i mahčihraē o qissa maxwān
Ki sa'd o nahs zi ta'sīr-i Zuhra o Zuhalast!
Ba hēč dawr naxwāhand yāft xwašyāraš,
Čunīn ki Hāfiz-i mā mast-i bāda-i azalast.

Hafiz: Ghazal 1 "Fars Poetica" (From Persian)

Ghazal 1: Fars Poetica
By Hafiz
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

Come wineboy, bring the cup around and pour it for me: love
At first sight seemed an easy thing, but soon got hard enough. 

In pining for the musk-sweet scent dawn wind bears from her hair
Such tearful blood wells in the hearts of lovers everywhere.

No chance of rest or pleasure at love's station in my heart.
Life's bells already ring outside: make ready to depart. 

Stain prayer-mats with wine if the wine-seller tells you to. 
A pilgrim knows the way, its every stage, and what to do.

The dread of waves, the dark of night, the maelstrom's monstrous roar...
How can they know my plight, who jaunt all carefree on the shore?

All my pursuits for my own pleasure ruined my good name.
When party gossips learn your secret, it becomes your shame. 

Hafiz! If you so wish to be with him, then do not hide.  
When you meet whom you're yearning for, just throw the world aside.


The Original:

الا يا ايها الساقى ادر كأساً و ناولها كه عشق آسان نمود اول ولى افتاد مشكلها
‌ به بوى نافه اى كاخر صبا زان طره بگشايد ز تاب جعد مشكينش چه خون افتاد در دلها
مرا در منزل جانان چه امن عيش چون هر دم جرس فرياد مى دارد كه بر بنديد محملها
به مى سجاده رنگين كن گرت پير مغان گويد كه سالك بى ‌خبر نبود ز راه و رسم منزلها
شب تاريك و بيم موج و گردابى چنين هايل كجا دانند حال ما سبكباران ساحلها
همه كارم ز خود كامى به بدنامى كشيد آرى نهان كى ماند آن رازى كز او سازند محفلها
حضورى گر همى ‌خواهى از او غايب مشو حافظ
متى ما تلق من تهوى دع الدنيا و اهملها

Romanization:

Alā yā ayyuhā l-sāqī, adir ka'san wa-nāwilhā
Ki 'išq āsān namūd awwal, walē uftād muškilhā.
Ba bō-i nāfaē, kāxir sabā zān turra bugšāyad,
Zi tāb-i ja'd-i muškīnaš či xūn uftād dar dilhā.
Marā dar manzil-i jānān či amn-i 'ayš čūn har dam
Jaras faryād mēdārad, ki barbandēd mahmilhā.
Ba may sajjāda rangīn kun, garat pīr-i muɣān gōyad,
Ki sālik bēxabar nabwad zi rāh o rasm-i manzilhā.
Šab-i tārīk o bīm-i mawj o gardābē čunīn hāyil,
Kujā dānand hāl-i mā sabukbārān-i sāhilhā.
Hama kāram zi xwadkāmī ba badnāmī kašīd ārē,
Nihān kay mānad ān rāzē, kaz ō sāzand mahfilhā.
Huzūrē gar hamēxwāhī az ō ɣāyib mašaw, Hāfiz,
Matā mā talqa man tahwā daˁi l-dunyā wa-'ahmilhā.

Tajik Cyrillic: 

Ало ё айюҳассоқӣ, адир каъсан ва новилҳо, 

Ки ишқ осон намуд аввал, вале афтод мушкилҳо. 

Ба бӯи нофае, к-охир сабо з-он турра бикшояд, 

Зи тоби ҷаъди мушкинаш чӣ хун афтод дар дилҳо. 

Маро дар манзили ҷонон чӣ амну айш, чун ҳар дам 

Ҷарас фарёд медорад, ки барбандед маҳмилҳо. 

Ба май саҷҷода рангин кун, гарат пири муғон гӯяд, 

Ки солик бехабар набвад зи роҳу расми манзилҳо. 

Шаби торику бими мавҷу гирдобе чунин ҳоил, 

Куҷо донанд ҳоли мо сабукборони соҳилҳо. 

Ҳама корам зи худкомӣ ба бадномӣ кашид охир, 

Ниҳон кай монад он розе, к-аз ӯ созанд маҳфилҳо. 

Ҳузуре гар ҳамехоҳӣ, аз ӯ ғоиб машав, Ҳофиз, 

Мато мо талқа ман таҳво даиддунё вааҳмилҳо.