With disheveled hair, restless, smiling, and drunk: Ghazal 26 by Hafez
With disheveled hair, restless, smiling, and drunk: Ghazal 26 by Hafez
By
@hamed | poet: Hafez Shirazi
زلف‌آشفته و خِوی‌کرده و خندان‌لب و مست
پیرهن‌چاک و غزل‌خوان و صُراحی در دست
***
نرگسش عَربده‌جوی و لبش افسوس‌کنان
نیم شب، دوش به بالین من آمد، بنشست
***
سر فرا گوش من آورد به آوازِ حزین
گفت: ای عاشقِ دیرینهٔ من، خوابت هست؟
***
عاشقی را که چنین بادهٔ شبگیر دهند
کافر عشق بُوَد گر نشود باده پرست
***
برو ای زاهد و بر دُردکشان خرده مگیر
که ندادند جز این تُحفه به ما روزِ الست
***
آن چه او ریخت به پیمانهٔ ما نوشیدیم
اگر از خَمرِ بهشت است وگر بادهٔ مست
***
خندهٔ جامِ می و زلفِ گره‌گیرِ نگار
ای بسا توبه که چون توبه حافظ بشکست
***
Description:
English Translation
With disheveled hair, restless, smiling, and drunk,
Shirt unbuttoned, singing a ghazal, with a wine flask in hand,
Her narcissus eyes wild, her lips sighing,
In the middle of the night, she came to my bedside and sat down.
She leaned her head close to my ear in a mournful voice,
And said, "O my long-time lover, are you asleep?"
A lover who is given such night-time wine,
Would be a lover of infidelity if he did not become a wine drinker.
Go away, O ascetic, and do not criticize the suffering ones,
For on the Day of Eternity, they gave us no other gift.
Whatever she poured into our cup, we drank,
Whether it was wine from paradise or intoxicating wine.
The smile of the wine cup and the tangled curls of the beloved,
How many vows have been broken like Hafez's vows.
A Brief Explanation of the Translation
A Night of Revelry: The poem describes a night of revelry and intoxication, with the poet's beloved as the central figure.
Love and Devotion: The poem is a passionate expression of love and devotion, emphasizing the power of love over religious piety.
Criticism of Hypocrisy: Hafez criticizes religious hypocrisy and those who pretend to be pious but are actually hedonistic.
Key Themes:
Love and Pleasure: The poem celebrates love, wine, and the pleasures of life.
Spiritual Ecstasy: The poet experiences a state of spiritual ecstasy and intoxication.
Criticism of Hypocrisy: Hafez criticizes religious hypocrisy and those who suppress their natural desires.
Some key Persian words and their nuances that are difficult to fully capture in English:
خِوی‌کرده: Restless, agitated.
عربده‌جوی: Wild, unruly.
افسوس‌کنان: Sighing, lamenting.
صوفیان: Sufis, Muslim mystics.
الست: The Day of Eternity, a reference to a Quranic verse.