Ghazal 47

From the Divan of Hafez · 9 couplets

The Oracle Speaks

...

Every wayfarer who knew the road to the tavern quarter

knew that to knock on any other door was a wasted thought.

Time gave the crown of revelry to no one except him

who knew that the world’s glory lay in this hat.

Whoever found the path to the tavern’s threshold

learned the mysteries of the cloister from the grace of the wine cup.

Whoever read the secret of both worlds from the cup’s rim

knew the riddles of Jamshid’s cup from the pattern of road-dust.

Do not ask obedience beyond madness from us,

for the sheikh of our creed knew sanity to be a sin.

My heart did not ask for safety from the cupbearer’s narcissus eyes,

for it knew the ways of that dark-hearted Turk.

From the cruelty of my unlucky star, at dawn my eyes

wept so hard that Venus saw and the moon understood.

The tale of Hafez and the wine cup, which he strikes in secret —

never mind the watchman and the magistrate — the king himself knew it.

A high-ranking king, who knew the nine vaults of heaven

as merely a sample of the arch of his palace.

به کویِ میکده هر سالِکی که رَه دانست

دری دگر زدن اندیشهٔ تَبَه دانست

زمانه افسر رندی نداد جز به کسی

که سرفرازیِ عالَم در این کُلَه دانست

بر آستانهٔ میخانه هر که یافت رَهی

ز فیضِ جامِ مِی اَسرار خانقَه دانست

هر آن که رازِ دو عالم ز خطِ ساغَر خواند

رُموزِ جامِ جم از نقشِ خاکِ ره دانست

ورایِ طاعتِ دیوانگان ز ما مَطَلَب

که شیخِ مذهبِ ما عاقلی گُنَه دانست

دلم ز نرگسِ ساقی اَمان نخواست به جان

چرا که شیوهٔ آن تُرکِ دل سیه دانست

ز جورِ کوکبِ طالع ،سَحَرگَهان چشمم

چنان گریست که ناهید دید و مَه دانست

حدیثِ حافظ و ساغر که می‌زند پنهان

چه جایِ محتسب و شِحنه، پادشَه دانست

بلندمرتبه شاهی که نُه رِواقِ سِپِهر

نمونه‌ای ز خَمِ طاقِ بارگَه دانست

Source: Ganjoor.net

Reflect on This Poem

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  • 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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