page_title: Naqdhā rā bovad āyā
section_title: The poem
hierarchical_section_title: Naqdhā rā bovad āyā / The poem
caption_attribution_description: Miniaturmalerei, Divan von Hafiz, Persien English: From a manuscript of Divan of Hafez.
context_page_description: Naqdhā rā bovad āyā is a short ghazal by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez of Shiraz. It is no. 185 in the Qazvini-Ghani edition of Hafez's poems. The poem is famous for a fine Persian miniature painting of 1585 illustrating the scene.
  In this poem Hafez advises hermits and ascetics to abandon their way of life and take up love. He describes the delights of making love to the sound of music, and tells how powerless they will be when overcome by the beauty of a beloved. In the last verse he advises poor people to avoid the society of the rich, who have no sympathy for them.
  The poem is written in such a way that it is difficult to tell whether Hafez is describing a real scene of love-making or using symbolic language to illustrate the mystic ecstasy of a Sufi on the path to union with God.
context_section_description: In the transcription, "x" represents the sound kh (خ) as in Khayyam, the letters gheyn (غ) and qāf (ق) are both written as "q ", and the sign " ' " represents a glottal stop. "Overlong" syllables, that is, syllables which can take the place of a long plus a short syllable in the metre, are underlined.
  1
  نقدها را بود آیا که عیاری گیرند‎
  تا همه صومعه داران پی کاری گیرند‎
  naqdhā rā bovad āyā ke 'ayyār-ī gīrand
  tā hamē sowme'e-dārān pey-e kār-ī gīrand?
  Is it possible that they might make an assay of coins
  so that all the cloister-dwellers will go and look for some work?
  2
  مصلحت دید من آن است که یاران همه کار‎
  بگذارند و خم طره یاری گیرند‎
  maslahat-dīd-e man ān ast ke yārān hame kār
  begozārand o xam-ē torre-ye yār-ī gīrand
  The best course in my opinion is for friends to abandon
  all work and take hold of the curl of the forelock of a beloved!
  3
  خوش گرفتند حریفان سر زلف ساقی‎
  گر فلکشان بگذارد که قراری گیرند‎
  xoš gereftand harīfān sar-e zolf-ē sāqī
  gar falak-šān begozārad ke qarār-ī gīrand
  Our companions would do well to take hold of the tip of the wine-pourer's curly hair,
  if heaven permits them to find an undisturbed place.
  4
  قوت بازوی پرهیز به خوبان مفروش‎
  که در این خیل حصاری به سواری گیرند‎
  qovvat-ē bāzu-ye parhīz be xūbān maforūš
  ke dar īn xeyl hesār-ī be savār-ī gīrand
  Do not boast to handsome ones of the strength of your resolve;
  since in this troop, they take a fortress with a single horseman!
  5
  یا رب این بچه ترکان چه دلیرند به خون‎
  که به تیر مژه هر لحظه شکاری گیرند‎
  yā Rab, īn bačče-ye Torkān če delīr-and be xūn
  ke be tīr-ē može har lahze šekār-ī gīrand
  O Lord, how fearless these young Turks are for blood,
  since they capture a prisoner every moment with the arrow of an eyelash!
  6
  رقص بر شعر تر و ناله نی خوش باشد‎
  خاصه رقصی که در آن دست نگاری گیرند‎
  raqs bar še'r-e tar ō nāle-ye ney xoš bāšad
  xāse raqs-ī ke dar ān dast-e negār-ī gīrand
  Dancing to the poetry of the tar and the plaintive note of the flute is delightful,
  especially a dance in which they take hold of the hand of a beauty.
  7
  حافظ ابنای زمان را غم مسکینان نیست‎
  زین میان گر بتوان به که کناری گیرند‎
  Hāfez, abnā-ye zamān rā qam-e meskīnān nīst
  z-īn miyān gar betavān beh ke kenār-ī gīrand
  Hafez, the sons of the age have no sympathy for the poor;
  it is better if possible that the poor should avoid going amongst them.
caption: Divan of Hafez, Persian miniature, 1585.
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