Ghazal 176

From the Divan of Hafez · 8 couplets

The Oracle Speaks

...

At dawn, wakeful fortune came to my bedside

and said: Arise, for that sweet sovereign has come.

Drain a cup and stroll in high spirits to the show,

that you may see by what ceremony your beauty has come.

Give good news, O musk-spreading recluse,

for from the plains of Khotan the musk-deer has come.

Weeping brought water back to the faces of the burnt ones —

the cry of lament came to the aid of the wretched lover.

The bird of my heart is again devoted to an arch-browed one —

O pigeon, beware, for the falcon has come.

Cupbearer, pour wine and grieve not for friend or foe,

for to our heart's content, that one went and this one came.

When the spring cloud saw the custom of time's faithlessness,

it wept upon the jasmine and hyacinth and eglantine.

When the breeze heard the words of Hafez from the nightingale,

it came scattering ambergris to view the sweet herbs.

سَحَرم دولتِ بیدار به بالین آمد

گفت برخیز که آن خسرو شیرین آمد

قدحی درکش و سرخوش به تماشا بخرام

تا ببینی که نگارت به چه آیین آمد

مژدگانی بده ای خلوتیِ نافه‌گشای

که ز صحرایِ خُتَن آهویِ مُشکین آمد

گریه آبی به رخِ سوختگان بازآورد

ناله فریادرَسِ عاشقِ مسکین آمد

مرغِ دل باز هوادارِ کمان‌ابروییست

ای کبوتر نگران باش که شاهین آمد

ساقیا می بده و غم مخور از دشمن و دوست

که به کامِ دلِ ما آن بشد و این آمد

رسمِ بدعهدیِ ایّام چو دید ابرِ بهار

گریه‌اش بر سمن و سنبل و نسرین آمد

چون صبا گفتهٔ حافظ بشنید از بلبل

عَنبرافشان به تماشایِ ریاحین آمد

Source: Ganjoor.net

Reflect on This Poem

If this ghazal appeared as your reading today, consider:

  • Which line stirred something in you — comfort, longing, or unease?
  • What question were you holding when you arrived at this page?
  • What is this poem asking you to release or embrace?

Ask the Oracle

Hold a question in your heart — about love, a decision, or your path — and let Hafez speak to you directly.

Get Your Free Reading