Ghazal 280

From the Divan of Hafez · 7 couplets

The Oracle Speaks

...

When the breeze broke the ambergris-scattering tresses of the beloved,

with every broken one it mended, a soul was made fresh.

Where is a confidant? — so that I may explain in detail

what the heart endures from the days of separation.

Time fashioned from the page of the rose an image of your face,

but from shame of you, hid it in the bud.

You are asleep, and no shore of love has appeared —

God be praised — for this road that has no end.

Will the beauty of the Kaaba perhaps seek pardon from the travelers? —

for the souls of the living-hearted have burned in its desert.

To this broken House of Sorrows — who brings

the sign of Joseph of the heart from the well of her dimpled chin?

I will seize the tip of that tress and give it to the master's hand —

for heartless Hafez has burned from her cunning and her tricks.

چو بر شکست صبا زلفِ عنبرافشانش

به هر شکسته که پیوست، تازه شد جانش

کجاست همنفسی؟ تا به شرح عرضه دَهَم

که دل چه می‌کشد از روزگارِ هجرانش

زمانه از ورقِ گُل، مثالِ رویِ تو بست

ولی ز شرمِ تو در غنچه کرد پنهانش

تو خفته‌ای و نشد عشق را کرانه پدید

تبارک الله از این رَه که نیست پایانش

جمالِ کعبه مگر عذرِ رهروان خواهد؟

که جانِ زنده‌دلان سوخت در بیابانش

بدین شکستهٔ بیت الحزن که می‌آرد

نشان یوسفِ دل از چَهِ زَنَخدانَش؟

بگیرم آن سرِ زلف و به دستِ خواجه دهم

که سوخت حافظِ بی‌دل ز مکر و دستانش

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?

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