Ghazal 77

From the Divan of Hafez · 8 couplets

The Oracle Speaks

...

A nightingale held a petal of a beautifully colored rose in its beak,

and amid that leaf and melody, sang sweet plaintive cries.

I said: In the very midst of union, what is this wailing and lamenting?

It said: The splendor of the beloved set us to this task.

If the beloved did not sit with us, there is no ground for protest —

she was a contented sovereign; she felt shame before a beggar.

Our need and coquetry cannot contend with the friend’s beauty —

happy is the one who had the good fortune to enjoy such lovely ones.

Arise, let us scatter our lives before the pen of that Artist,

who drew all these wondrous designs in the compass’s turning.

If you are a disciple on love’s path, do not think of ill repute —

the Sheikh of San’an pawned his cloak at the wine-seller’s house.

Blessed was the time of that sweet qalandar, who in the stages of the journey

kept the angels’ rosary-praise within the circle of the infidel’s belt.

The eye of Hafez, beneath the palace-roof of that angel-natured one,

had the manner of “Gardens beneath which rivers flow.”

بُلْبُلی، بَرگِ گُلی خوش‌رَنْگ در مِنْقار داشت

و اندر آن بَرْگ و نَوا، خوش ناله‌هایِ زار داشت

گفتمش: «در عِیْنِ وَصْل‌، این نالِه و فَرْیاد چیست؟»

گفت: «ما را جِلْوِه‌یِ مَعْشوق در این کار داشت»

یار اگر نَنْشَسْت با ما نیست جایِ اِعْتِراض

پادشاهی کامْران بود، از گدایی عار داشت

دَرنمی‌گیرد نیاز و نازِ ما با حُسْنِ دوست

خُرَّم آن کز نازنینان‌، بَخْتِ بَرخوردار داشت

خیز تا بر کِلْکِ آن نَقّاش‌، جان، اَفْشان کُنیم

کاین هَمِه نَقْشِ عَجَب در گَرْدِشِ پَرْگار داشت

گر مُریدِ راهِ عِشْقی، فِکْرِ بَدنامی مَکُن

شِیْخِ صَنْعان، خِرْقِه، رَهْنِ خانِهٔ خَمّار داشت

وَقْتِ آن شیرین‌قَلَنْدَر خوش که در اَطْوارِ سِیْر

ذِکْرِ تَسْبیحِ مَلَک در حَلْقِه‌یِ زُنّار داشت

چَشْمِ «حافظ»، زیرِ بامِ قَصْرِ آن حوری‌سِرِشْت

شیوِه‌یِ جَنّاتُ تَجْری تَحْتِهَا الاَنهار داشت

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