= c\j
-Cvj
;o
LPer
H139
.EL
Hafiz^ of Shiraz
Twelve odes of Hufiz;
tr. by W.H.Lowe.
TWELVE ODES
OF
3*
HAFIZ
>ONE LITERALLY INTO ENGLISH.
\gether with the corresponding portion of the Turkish
Commentary of
S U D I
FOR THE FIRST TIME TRANSLATED.
lso a few Suggestions with regard to the Interpretation of
Certain Passages in the New Testament.
BY
W. H. LOWE, M.A.,
Hebrew Lecturer at Christ College, Cambridge.
Cambridge :
W. P. Spalding, 43, Sidney Street.
1877.
TWELVE ODES
OJ?
HAFIZ
DONE LITERALLY INTO ENGLISH.
Together with the corresponding portion of the Turkish
Commentary of
SUDI
FOR THE FIRST TIME TRANSLATED.
W. PI. LOWE, M.A.,
Hebrew Lecturer at Christ College, Cambridge.
(fambrtdJgc : ^jf^
W. P. Spalding, 43, Sidney Street.
1877.
Cmnbribcfc :
PEINTED BY F. C. GOWEB, GUILDHALL PLACE.
PREFACE
— t*
Of the life of Hafiz it is not necessary to say anything at
length, since what is known of him may be found in Sir Gore
Ouseley's Biographical Notices of Persian Poets, pp. 23—42-
It will suffice to observe that his real name is Shams-u-din
Muhammad; for Hafiz, meaning a poet who has written a
complete Divan, is merely a title applied to our author par
excellence, just as the title 'Amir, standing alone, means 'Amir
Khusroo of Patiali, and in Jewish literature Eabbi stands for
Rabbi Yehoodah han-nasi'. He was born at Shiraz, during the
reign of the Mozafar dynasty in Pars, and died about 791 a.ii.
(1388 a.d.) With regard to his poetry, and that of the Sufi-s in
general, there are three opinions. (1) That, as is the case with
the Song of Songs (Song of Solomon, or Canticles), according to
the tradition of the Jewish and Christian Churches, it is to be
interpreted mystically. In accordance with this method of inter-
pretation, a dictionary of the words of Sufi-language has been
composed, in which vocabulary wine means devotion ; sleep,
mediation ; perfume, lope ; breezes, illapses of grace ; kisses and
embraces, the raptures of piety ; idolaters, infidels, and libertines
are men-of-tlie-purest-religion, and their idol is the Creator ; the
tavern is a retired oratory, its keeper a teacher ; beauty denotes
the Divine Perfection; tresses, the expansion of his glory; lips,
the hidden mysteries of His Essence; down on the cheek, the
world of spirits ; a black mole, the point of indivisible unity j
wantonness, mirth, and drunkenness represent religious ardour
and abstraction from worldly thoughts. (2) That it is as wanton
'<■ PEEFACE.
and literal in its meaning as the poetry of Anacreon and Ilornce.
(3) That it is partly literal, partly mystical in its meaning.
This is the opinion of Professor Cowell, (to whose kind instruc-
tion the Translator is indebted for anything he knows of Persian),
as expressed in the Oxford Essays as early as 1855 — " The
[p. 159] peculiar feature of Persian poetry — its distinguishing
charm — is the mystical tone which universally pervades it. This
mystical tendency is not confined to mere isolated passages ;
with but few exceptions it extends its influence everywhere. By
this we do not mean that it is everywhere obtruding itself, for
this perpetual intrusion would annihilate the charm, one main
element of which consists in the vague and undefined feeling of
its presence. . . . A\ r e may, if we will, pass it by, confining
ourselves exclusively to those passages which sing of mortal love,
or an earthly summer and winter; still the vague and undefined
shadow remains ; the feeling of a greater presence will still hang
over us ; and
' Memories of his music shall descend
With the pure spirits of the suuless hours,
Sink through our hearts, like dew into the flowers,
And haunt us without end.'"
Por a full discussion of the subject the reader is referred to
Sir William Jones On the Mystical Poetry of the Persians and
Hindoos. These particular odes have been chosen for translation
because they form part of those selected for the first Indian
Languages 2V/);os, but the chief object of these few pages is to
give a specimen of a Turkish commentary.
Sudi was born about 1000 a.ii. (1591 ad.), that is about
200 years after the death of Hafiz. lie could not, therefore,
have written later than the middle of the 17th century. So that
his commentary, -which is as painstaking in its criticism as in
its exegesis, is a most valuable contribution towards establishing
a correct text of the Divani-Hufiz. Por this purpose lie lias
PKEFACE. 111.
been efficiently utilized by Professor Brockbaus. But as yet,
so far as I know, nothing bas been done towards putting bis
Turkish commentary before the world in any of those languages
which we call European. The Persian scholar will probably
prefer the Persian commentators to Sudi, and will not think it
worth while to expend time and labour on learning so trouble-
some a language as Turkish for the sake of reading the Turkish
commentaries. But the student of Persian will find a translation
of Sudi useful to him, not so much for its philological and
grammatical remarks, as for the numerous Arabic synonyms for
Persian words which it contains, and as expressing the views of
an oriental, (who was a perfect master of Arabic, Persian, and
Turkish), as distinguished from those of an orientalist. Boofaqir-i
pur-taqsir [i.e., This poor fellow full of defects, viz., the Translator]
has unfortunately been obliged to be his own instructor in the
Turkish language, and so, on the ground of this disadvantage, he
craves the kind indulgence of his readers. Anything in the com-
mentary placed between square brackets [ ] is an addition by the
Translator.
A few remarks on the interpretation of S. INXatt. ii., 13 — 15,
23 ; and vi., 31, are appended.
Ghazal T,
Metre called Mcttatitth.
By the soul of the Master, and time-honoured truth, and the
faithful covenant,
[I sware] that the companion of my morning hour is prayer for
thy welfare. 1.
My tears, which have surpassed the flood of Noah,
From the tablet of my breast have been unable to wash the
image of thy love. 2.
SudPs Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " Bajdn," "ba" is a particle denoting swearing by, [cf.
xii. 2]. By " KFdjah," the master, he means Qawan-ud-Diu [cf.
ix. 6, 7]. Here the meaning of "'ahcV is " qaul-wa-qirar," an
agreement; in Arabic they say "withaq" or "mauthiq," they say
moreover " wa'dat." " Durust " means straight, right. Here the
meaning of " Mu'nis" is "musahib," companion, or "yar," friend.
The meaning here of " dam " is " waqt," moment, as in the words
"subuhdam," morning-time, and "sapi'dahdam," dawn-time. "Du'a-
i-daulat-i-tust," this is an instance of the latter of two nouns in
construction, itself having izdfat, [cf. xi. ] ]. " Tust" is compounded
of "tu," thou, and "ast," is; in the process of composition the irdir of
"tu " and the elifof " ast " have fallen out. STJMMAKY OF THE
COUPLET: By the life of the Master, and the time-honoured truth,
and the faithful covenant, [I declare] that [the act of] making
2 GHAZAL I. Letter Te
prayer for thy prosperity is the friend and companion of my
morning hour. The Poet changed from the third to the second
person, because he whom he addressed [i.e., in 2nd pers.] is the
same person as "the Master," [of whom he spoke in the 3rd pers].
It is however equally admissible to suppose that he is address-
ing the Beloved, and swares by the soul of his "Master after his
death. He specifies morning prayers for his happiness, because
such prayers are answered, as they say " The morning time is the
most auspicious moment" [cf. Koran xvii. 80, "The prayer of
day-break is borne witness to."] He speaks of " the time-
honoured truth," because Kh'ajah Qawan-ud-Din was all his life
his generous friend. And he speaks of " the faithful covenant,"
because it is on account of it that he so acts, viz.: because he had
taken upon himself to, in some way or other, wholly devote him-
self to the Kh'ajah's lasting prosperity.
(2) " Sirislik " and 'AsJJc are used in the sense of tears.
" Tufdn " is water which overflows and surrounds a place. " Bast
biburd," in the figurative sense, overcame. " Dast-burd," having
the be with zamma and the re with jazm, denotes overcoming.
— Couplet [in illustration of the use of this phrase]
Ba dast-burdi kilkat, k'an 'abr dirafshanast,
Ta'rifi. khwesh kardan 'imkan k'an nabashad.
" Laid," they use this [Arab] word for [Pers.] "takhtah" tablet.
Between " lauh" and " senah" there is Izdfat. " Naydrast"
ydrastan and ydridan mean to be able. "JVaydrast,^ having the re
with fatha, is the past tense negative, it ivas not able. " JKihr "
here [not mulir seal] is in the sense of " muliabbat ," love. " Shust"
is here [of the same form as 3rd pers.] Past Tense, it is in the
sense of shust-an, to wash.— SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET:
The words "My tears have surpassed the flood of Noah" may
be taken in two senses ; they may mean either the water of my
tears has surpassed in quantity that of the food of Noah, or,
whereas his flood only lasted .sit months, my tears arc continually
/lowing throughout my whole life, and cease nut. Be it known that
Letter Te. GKAZAL I. 3
Transact some business, and buy this broken heart,
For in its broken state it is worth a hundred thousand whole
ones. 3.
Reproach me not with drunkenness, for the Guide of Love
Pointed me to the tavern on the First Day. 1.
this is what they have written in [certain] books, viz.: that Tsoah
(Peace be upon him !) went into the ark on the 10th of the 7th
month [called Rajab], and came out of the ark on the 10th of the
1st month, on the day called 'dshiird, which makes altogether six
months. So then [the meaning is, that] the flood of Noah cannot
ht/ its greatness icash away the image of thy love from the tablet of
my bosom. This verse is hyperbolical. The person addressed may
be his Beloved, or Qawan.
(3) Bilehar ; the khe with fatha, and the be with Kasra ; a
verb imperative second pers., it means "buy." " Shilcashtagi" the
final ye converts the participle into an abstract noun meaning
broken-ness. "'Arzad" a verb in the aorist from '"arzidan," to be
worth the price. " Durust" occurs here with a double-entendre,
for durust is used in two senses, 1st as whole opp. to shikastah,
broken; 2nd in the sense of gold. [A certain commentator] in
confining the word to one of these meanings fell short of the
mark.— SUMMARY OT THE COUPLET : Transact some business,
buy this broken heart, for broken as it is it is worth a hundred
thousand whole hearts, i.e., afflicted as it is with the sorrow and
grief of love, being consistent in its judgment, it is worth a hun-
dred thousand hearts of stone, or, it is worth a hundred thousand
pieces of gold. In a word: Do a good act, talec my heart which is
love-sick, and comfort it, for unto thee how can the heart [without
encouragement] shoiv itself.
(4) "Maldmat" is a noun of action, like "laum," from [Arab]
"lama," fut "yaloomu," to blame, scold. " JChardbi" Khardb
4 GRAZAL 1. Letter Te.
Strive after Truth, that the Sim may be born from thy soul,
Tor on account of its deceitfulness the First-dawn is become
black-faced. 5.
means " sar-khwush," merry-headed, tipsy, the final ye makes it
into an abstract noun meaning tipsy -ness. " Murshid" is said of
one who directs into the straight road; it is connected with
" 'ishq " by an intervening izdfat. They say " haicdlat " or
H, ihdlat" (the hamza with Jcasra) of imposing a business upon some
one [i.e., in the sense of commission, recommendation]. " Khard-
bdt." i.e., " may-khanah," wine-tavern. [There is a play on the
words Khardbi, drunkenness, and Kliardbdt, tavern], " Nukhust"
i.e. [Arab] " 'awwal," first. "Rozi nukhust" means "r6zi-'azal"
[i.e., the day of eternity- which-has-no-beginning; referring to the
pre-existence of souls. Cf, viii. 1.]— SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET: Blame not my drunkenness and tipsyness for the Old-
man and Guide of Love directed me to the wine-tavern on the day
of eternity, i.e., my disrepute and my being a haunter of taverns
is not of my own free-will. Couplet [ed. Schwannau I., p. 18, 5,
in illustration of this declaration of Hafiz] —
Hafiz bakhwud naposhid 'in khirqah-e may-'alood
'Ay shaikhi pak-daman ma'zoor dar ma-rii.
" Hdfiz of himself put not on these wine-stained rays,
O clean-shirted Shaikh hold me excusable."
(5) " Ba-sidq," " sidq" having the sad with Jccsra, is a noun
meaning truth. The " ba " before it is a preposition. " Zdyad "
with its ye with fatlia is a verb in the aorist from " za'idan," it
means to be born, " Durogh " means a lie, it is opp. to " sidq"
truth. " Subh-i-nuhhust " is [what is called in Arabic] " subh
kazib," false dawn, which rises before the "subh sadiq," true (hum.
After it [viz.: the " subh kazib "] darkness surprises the world
Letter Te. QIIAZAL I. 5
O heart despair not of the kindness of the Friend which is
boundless,
Since thou boasted of Love, stake thy head cheerfully. G.
Through thy hand I am become a mad wanderer o'er mountain
and desert,
Nor as yet dost thou in mercy loose the girdle of [my] chain. 7.
for a short time, and then the " subh sadiq " rises. — SUMMAEY
OP THE COUPLET : Strive after sincerity, that from thy soul the
sun may arise, i.e., let every word which proceeds out of thy mouth
penetrate every one, as the sun [does with its rays,] with the bless-
ing of truth. For the false dawn through its deceitfulness is
become black-faced, i.e., darkness has enveloped its brightness, in a
word, lying is forbidden by all religions and creeds.
(G) " Mabur" with its be with zamma is the prohibitive 2nd
pers. sing, from " buridanP "Bibaz" imperative 2nd pers. sing,
from " bazidan," to stake at play. " Chdpuk," the che is with the
three diacritic points, and the pe with three points and zamma.
" U-chust" the che with three points and zamma, and the sin with
jazm ; it is used as a further explanation of chapuk, they mean
together promptly and quickly [cf. xi. 1].— SUMMARY OF THE
COUPLET : heart despair not of the boundless kindness of the
Friend; since thou makest boast of love and affection, for its sake
stake thy head readily, i.e., in self devotion (fidtC), for the require-
ments of love have no respect for soul and head [i.e., life]. In a
word, If thou be perfect in the path of love, [be sure that] that
Friend will not withhold his kindness from thee.
(7) " JVitaq " and " mint-ayah " (the nun of the one and the
mim of the other being with Kasra) both mean girdle. "Silsilah"
i.e., " zangir," a chain. " Sust " means loose. There is izufat
between "nitaq and " silsilah." — SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET:
By thy hand I am become the madman of mountain and desert,
6 GHAZAL I. Letter Te.
The tongue of the aut was loosed against Asaph, and rightly so,
For his lordship lost the signet of Jam and did not seek it
again. 8.
i.e., possessed (majnoon) and [mad as] Farhad [who to please his
mistress Shirin dug through an immense mountain ; when his
rival Khosrou sent him a false report, stating that Shirin was
dead, he killed himself with an axe] ; and the fact is that thou
dost not in mercy loosen my sorrow's fetter. In a word, For all
that I have been so mazed and dazed (sar-gashtah oo-sar-garddn),
and so reft of reason and bewildered {xodlili wa-hayrdn) in the path
of love, thou hast not had the mercy to show me the least kindness.
(8) The ze of " zabdn " may be either witiifatha or zamma.
" M6r " means the ant. "Asaph" ben "Berakhya was the vazir of
King Solomon (peace be upon him !) In this couplet by " his
lordship " he means Asaph. The reference is not to Solomon
himself, as She'mi and Sururi opined. " Dardz gasht" means
became long. "Bavdst" means it is "jd'iz," i.e., allowable. "Kih"
is a causative particle. Here by " Tchatcm " he means Solomon's
seal. By " Jam " he means Solomon himself, so that " Tchdtami
Jam'''' means "muhri Sulaymdn," Solomon's seal, as in the follow-
ing passage : —
Khatami Jamra bisharat dih bahusni khatamat,
Ki'smi 'a'zam kard 'azo kotah dasti 'Ahiriman.
At any rate it is to be understood from the words of Hafiz him-
self, that •' Jam " may be Solomon, but knowledge belongs to
Allah [i.e., the commentator will not take upon himself to decide].
" Ydvah" means "zd'i 1 " i.e., lost, and so ydvah hard means he lost.
"Jidz" is here used in composition with the verb in order to
strengthen its meaning. " Najust " is verb negt. 3rd sing, past,
from jus/an, it means he did not seek. — SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET : Against Asaph ben Berakhya the ant's tongue became
long, i.e., the ant made long-tongued-ness against him; and lie
had a right to do so, because his lordship, i.e., Asaph, lost
Letter Te. • GHAZAL I.
Grieve not Hdfiz, and of the charming seek not constancy,
What fault is it of the garden, if this weed nourish not ? 9.
Solomon's ring and did not seek it. In a word, he knew that the
seal was lost, and even gave information of the fact to Belkis
[Queen of Sheba], but he took no trouble to make inquiries
about it ; so the ant, using reproachful language towards him,
said, " Thou, although thou mightest have found it, if thou hadst
sought it, wast negligent." Be it known, that the story of the
seizure of Solomon's signet by a Div, and of its recovery, is too
long to be fitly recounted here.
(9) " Uifdz" and muhdfazat, from in cong., are nom. verbi,
they mean observing and regarding (ri'ayat wa-siganat), and here
of course the word is equivalent to " tcafa" constancy : "Gigcih"
they say for fresh green grass.— STJMMAEY OF THE COUPLET:
Hafiz grieve not at the injustice of the charming, and the vexa-
tion caused by them, neither hope for kindness or constancy at
their hands. The second hemistich is expressed metaphorically,
it says, " "What fault is it of the garden, even though this herb
have not nourished in it ? i.e., The Most Sigh God made them an
unjust and vexatious people, if they are not given to constancy and
blandishments they are not at all to be blamed for this peculiarity.
Couplet —
Barah guftah-am oo-bar digar guyam
Kih man dil-shudah 'in rah bakhwud mi-puyam.
Full often have I said, and now again I say,
That I demented strayed alone along this way.
Ghazal II.
Metre called Mimtatutii.
V — V — v v v — - V — V v — ||
The balcony of the watch-tower of my eye is thy resting place,
Be gracious and descend, for the house is thy house, 1.
Sudi's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " Eiwaq " has its ri with kasra, and " rauq " its re witli
fatha, and its ivaw with jazm. Originally it was used to express
a platform of an outer gallery in front of a house, [a balcony']. But
the nisdb-i Subydn [the title of an Arabic Vocabulary with a Per-
sian translation is rhyme] under the word i; riwaq " has said
that it means " 'iwan " [Arab for portico, palace]. Shdhidi in his
Manzumah has explained it as " a yreat four-domed palace" or
"pavilion." Hence it is known that "riwaq" may be a great
pavilion. It is pronounced ravdq, with fatha, in Persian.
"Manzar" means a place to look from; afterwards they made
use of it as synonymous with the word "sayran-gah," a promenade.
The clause must be read with three izdfats, thus, ravdk-i onanzar-i
chashm-i man. " Ashiydnah " and " Ashyan " both mean a bird's
nest. "Firod 'a," "firud" means down, and 'a is impert. 2nd sing.
of " 'a'idan," and means come. Here taken in composition witli
J/rod, it means perch, settle. It does not mean come down, as some
(Shem'i and Sururi) have opined. " Numa," [impert.] from
" numa'idan " [to show] may be pronounced namd or numd. It is
Letter To. GIIAZAL II
By the loveliness of thy mole and down thou hast ravished the
hearts of the wise,
Wonderous charms are beneath the net of thy grain. 2.
May thy heart, O nightingale of the morn, be joyful through
through union with the rose,
For in the garden all the love-lorn cry is thine. 3.
generally supposed, from " namoodan."— SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET: The watch-tower and balcony of my eye are thy nest,
i.e., are thy abode and resting-place. Show then kindness and
settle [there], for the house is thy house. Meaning, my eye looks
on nothing hut thee, receives no image btit thine, consequently it is
become thy palace ('ivan) and throne (misnad),^ to no other placel
(2) Most copies have "balutfi khal," but some have "bazulf
u-khal." The words balutf and khal are to be read in connection
baht/f-i-khdl.— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET : With charm of
mole and down thou hast captivated the heart of the wise and of
lovers. Wonderous are the charms of thy net and of the grain
which is under it. Meaning, in order to capture the wise and lovers
thou hast made this coquettish mole into a grain and the charming
down into a net.
(3) " Khivash " must be read in close connection with
" dilat" thus •' dilat khwash bad" as a benediction on the night-
ingale.— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET: morning-nightingale,
may thy heart be ("khwush," i.e., "shad,") joyful through union
with the rose. That is, may there be prepared for thee union with
the rose ! Because in the garden all the amorous cries and songs
(asw/it wa-turnum;U) are thine. Beside thee there is none with
these ardent mournful and piercing wails, and no one ^ivos ear 1<>
any voice but thine. That is, The mice of others are of no value
at all in comparison of thine,
n
10 QHAZAL II Letter TL
Invite the healing of the weakness of our heart to thy lip,
For that ruby-elixir is in thy treasury [alone]. 4.
In the body I am not capable of waiting upon thee,
But the essence of my soul is the dust of thy threshold. 5.
I protest that I will not readily give my heart to every coquette,
The door of the treasury bears tluj seal and mark. 6.
(I) [The Arab.] " Khizanah," having the Me wi£h kasra, is
equivalent to [the Pers.] khazinah, its plur. is "khaza'in." — SUM-
MAEY 01 THE COUPLET : The healing and cure of the sickness
of our heart invite thou to our lip, i.e., Bring thou about the heal-
ing of our heart by means of thy lip. Because the ruby being the
produce (hasil) of its [i.e., thy lip's] jewel, that exhilirating elec-
tuary is peculiar to thy royal treasury, and with no one else is it
found.
(5) Taqsir is synonymous with " 'ajr," inability. "Khuldsah-
e-jdn" with izdfat. tl J£liul&sah" means pure and unsullied (sa.fi
wa-khalis). "JKhuldsah-e-jdn" is the heart. Shem'i ignorantly
states that " khuldsah-e-jdn " means language, [which is the
Turkish meaning of "di'l."]— SUMMAEY OF' THE COUPLET:
Although with my sick and weak body I am incompetent
and unable to be a constant attendant at thy Porte on account
of its sublimity and serenity, yet my pure and unsullied soul
is the dust of thy threshold. That is, Like other lovers
at I ending at the threshold of the seat of felicity, and molesting
and importuning at her feet, though when through her rudeness the
pride of ancestry of that august personage becomes manifest, I
might no longer attend, yet soul and heart icould never rest from
a I hud nig on that dust, which is of such chemical virtues.
(6) SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET: I am not the one to give
my pure and unsullied heart to every coquette and mistress, nay
rather the door of the treasury of my heart bears thy seal and
mark, because within and without thou hast taken possession of
Letter Te. G11AZAL II. 11
What a charmer thou art, O my gentle cavalier !
For the steed, as the rolling heavens, to thy whip is obedient. 7.
it, and it is under thy guardianship. In a word, The lieart will
humble itself to none but thee. [Turkish] verse:
Qool 'olmaz deime ber sbaheh gueunal 'ali-janab 'ister.
" Since a monarch is no slave,
He scarce needs fortitude." [?~\
(7) "Xhwud " is sometimes used pleonastically, here it is for
the sake of emphasis. " Lu'bati," the final ye is the sign of the
second pers. sing, [of the subst. verb]. " Lu'bat " originally
meant that which is played, viz., what is played with dice. It is
used as synonymous with " nard " [the game of dice, chess or
backgammon]. Afterwards the Persians used it in the sense of a
puppet, or a puppet-like little boy. Sometimes it happens that it
ia compounded with bdz, and then they say lu'bat-bdz is the
general sense of a puppet-player, buffoon. But it is likewise used
for " chapuk," smart, active, beautiful, or " chalak," smart, active,
or "hashri," elegant. Lu'bat is not equivalent so lu'bat-bdz, as
8hem% and Sururi have mentioned. " Shahsuvdr," shah is short-
ened from shdh, and suvdr means a horseman, consequently shah-
suvdr means a kingly horseman. " -gar " is with the Persian gdf
[i.e., g~\, it is the sign of the agent, like the Turkish ji or chi, thus
"jafagar," tormentor, "sitam-gar," oppressor, •wou\& be in Turkish
" jafaji, " " zoolmji." Sometimes the 'alif is omitted, and so they
say "jafagar," " sitamgar." " Tausan " is originally the same as
[Pers.] "goorah," the onager, its meaning is [Arab.] " wahshi," a
wild animal. Couplet —
Chih khwash guft Bahrain saharanshin
Cliu yakrani tausan zadash bar zamin.
" How siveet of Bahrdm-gor 's voice the sotmd,
When a wild horse threw him to the ground."
12 GIIAZAL II. Letter Te.
"What place is there for me, when the juggling sphere trembles
At the frauds which are in thy bag of evasions. 8.
The meaning of "yakran" is horse, and of "tausan," wild. After-
wards they used the word "tausan" in the sense of an unre-
strained horse. The ye added to the word expresses unity, or that
the substantive is indefinite. "Mam " is in the sense of [Arab.]
" muti'," obedient. " Tdziydnah " is a whip.— SUMMAEY 01 THE
COUPLET: kingly cavalier, giver of sweetness and delight, how
smart and active art thou of noble person, that, like the heavens,
a wild animal (or a wild horse) is so obedient and submissive to
thy whip, as to lay aside its obstinacy ! That is, thou possessest
such controul that thou hast subjugated the very heavens to thy com-
mand. In his admiration he addresses the Beloved in terms of
hyperbolical commendation.
(S) " Place for me," the word " ja," place, is pleonastic
[muqham cf. ver. 7]. " What is my place?" meaning "I am a non-
entity." The bi of bilaghzad is a particle of confirmation.
"Laghzad" is the aorist from the verb " laghzidan," to slip in the
mud. " Sha'badah " has its shin with fatlia, its l ayn with jazm,
and its be with fatlia, it is a nomen actionis, meaning a causing
of dazzling to the eye [he means juggling, slight of hand (/)]
"Sha'badah-bdz" means " huqqah-baz," a juggler. " Sipihr,"
with its sin with Icasra, and its pe with kasra, means the same as
[Arab] " falak," heaven, fate. " Hiyal," the he with Jcasra, and
ye with fatha, is Arabic, the plural of " hilat," an artifice. "Am-
bdnah " and ambdn they explain as meaning a bag. There is an
izdfat between " ambdnah " and " bahdnahr— SUMMAEY OF THE
COUPLET: I am nothing, for even the deceitful and juggling
heaven slips and falls through the various artifices which are in
thy bag of evasions, lie addresses the Beloved and says, "Thou
hast to such a degree appropriated to thyself the art of tricking
Letter Te. OIIAZAL II. 13
The song of thine assembly e'en now brings the heavens into
the dance,
For Hafiz's sweetly-worded poetry is the burden of thy melody. 9.
and evasion, to deceive lovers, that the heaven, allowing itself to
be deceived by deceitfulness and duplicity, will itself be taken
in, how much more then are lovers helpless.
(9) "Surod" means song. "Aknun" and Tcnun mean noiv.
They say the " tardnah " in singing means trilling, of which there
are several kinds, as is well known.— SUMMAKY OF THE COUP-
LET: In thy assembly thy song, i.e., thy singing, brings the
heavens to dancing, because thy song is the sweet and pleas-
ingly-worded poetry of Hafiz. In a word, into whatever assem-
bly thou mayest bring the poetry of Hafiz, as a song and melody,
it will set the heavens a dancing, because that song is composed of
two pleasant tilings, viz., tliy sweet mouth and the sweet poetry of
Ilafiz.
GlIAZAL III.
Metre called Kiiafeef.
The heart is the door-curtain of her love,
The eye is the mirror-bearer of her charms.
SucWs Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " 'A 'inahddr." We have explained this word in the
commentary on the line " Shuhsuvari man, kih mah 'a'inahdari
rooi 'ost " in the Ghazal beginning with the words " 'an shabi
qadri," vid. vii. 4. Though this would have been the proper place
for it, through inadvertance we passed it over in this passage, and
wrote it there. " Sara-pardah" they explain this as meaning a
curtain drawn across inside, in Arabic it is " suraxliq," of which
the plur. is " suradiqat," the sin in both cases being with zamma ;
it is an arabized form of [tbe Pers.] " sarii-pardah." So then
"the heart is the inner vestibule of his love." It does not mean
that " it penetrated within this veil," as Shem'i says " 'A'vnak-
ddr is a compound adj. meaning mirror-holder, i.e., is continually
in, my eyes, never departs from it. " TaVat " originally meant
adspectus, afterwards they used it for face, like " didfir," which
originally meant brinyer to view. Couplet [in illustration of the
diddr in the sense of sight] —
Badulari mardum shudan 'ayb nist
Walekin nah chandan kih guyand bas.
"Seek companionship, and fear not a rebuff';
But bore not thy friend until he cry enough"
Letter Te. GHAZAL III. 15
I, who would not turn my -thoughts to the two worlds,
My neck is under the burden of her graciousness. 2.
Afterwards they used it in the sense of face [e.g., in the follow-
ing] Couplet —
Didar mi-numayi u-parhez mi-kuni
Bazari khwesh va-'atishi tez mi-kuni.
" Thy face thou shew'st, yet modesty dost claim,
Thyself thou sellest, and kindlest our flame."
SUMMAKY OP THE COUPLET : The heart is the beloved's cur-
tain, i.e., as those within the curtain are hidden and veiled from
strangers, so in my heart is love for her hidden from others. Also
the eye is the mirror-bearer of his face, i.e., from my eye it never
2>asses away, as the reflexion of a thing which is before a mirror
never passes from it. The rhyme [cf. iv. 9] of this Grhazal is
faulty throughout, for there is no proper rhyming letter (harfi
raviy). When the rhyme extends beyond one syllable, the first
letter of the rhyme, the Harf-i raviy [Hauptreimbuchstabe]
ought to be a radical letter [as for instance it is in the preceding
Grhazal], When, however, there is but one letter in the rhyme,
this is of course the Raviy, it ueed not be radical. As in the
following [Turkish] couplet—
San-mah 'ay bulbuli sbida guli ter
Iddooging 'ahi goolaghineh qoo'ed.
" O amorous Bulbul, hope not for the rose,
Though all thy lament into her hearing goes."
So then in this Ghazal the final Te of the last word but one of
each couplet cannot be the Raviy, because it is not radical. And
the last radical letters are all diil'erent, thus of " muhabbaV it is
be, of " tal'at " it is l ayn, of " minnat " it is nun, and so on.
(2) " Dar " is a particle used in composition with the verb.
"Sar dar nagdvaram" They sometimes use this expression in the
1G GTIAZAL III. letter Te.
Thou and Tuba, I and the form of the Friend,
Each man's thoughts are in proportion to his spirit. 3.
What am I that I should be in that sanctuary, for the Zeyhyr
Is but the chamberlain of the court of her sanctuary. 4.
sense of I would not lend or bow my head. The perfect, future,
imperative, and prohibitive occur in the same way, thus " naya-
vard," " biyavarad," " biyar," " mayar." " Badu kaun," " ba " is
a preposition, it means for the two worlds. " Gardan," neck.
"Zer" [Arab] " taht," i.e., under. "Bar" [Arab] "haml," i.e.,
burden. " Minn at " is best taken here as the conferring of (niann
or) kindness— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET : I, who would not
bow my head for the two worlds, i.e., on account of my great
independence would not bend my head to any one, my neck is
under the burden of the graciousness of the Beloved. That is
to this humblest slave such infinite favours and such measureless
kindnesses has the Beloved shown, that he is covered with confu-
sion at the perfection of her beneficence, and put under the
greatest obligations for her boundless condescention.
(3) " Thou" is a general address to hypocrites ('ahli zfihir).
Sometimes, as here, the occurrence of "and" in each clause
expresses the notion of association (ma'iyyat) [cf. iv. 1]. — SUM-
MAEY OP THE COUPLET: hypocrite, thou and Tooba, wo
with the form of the Friend, i.e., Tooba for thee, the form of the
Friend for us. In a word, Let the Tree of Paradise (viz. Tooba)
be thine, the presence of the face of the Friend be ours. The
thought of each one is in proportion to his spirit, i.e., The desire
of some is for the Paradise of the next world, the desire of others
for the presence of the Friend (maula 1 ).
(4) " Kih " is here a relative pronoun, pointing to a person.
"Ilaram" is used of the precincts of Mecca and Madina, e.g.,
they call Mecca llamm-u-UCih, and Mecca and Madina by [the
Letter To. GIIAZAL III. 17
As for me, if my skirt be stained, what matter !
The whole world is a witness to her modesty. 5.
The age of Mejnoon is past, the turn is now ours,
Each one's turn lasts but five days. G.
dual] al-haramdn. Here liaram is mentioned by way of comparison
with the [sanctity of] precincts of Mecca and Madina. They say
u pardah-dar" for a door-keeper. "Harim" means a court, area
(xlrab. "hauli"). "Hurmat" is used of things sacred from all
profanation, i.e., which demand respect. There is an izdfat between
" harim " and " hurmat. "— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET: lam
not good enough for the sanctuary of that Beloved, for the breeze
which enters into every place, and is ever one's confidant, is [but]
door-keeper of the court of his [or her] sanctuary, i.e., not being
able to enter it remains at the doors.
(5) " "Aloodali? soiled, defied. " Guv<ih," [Arab] "shahid,"
i.e., witness. " i Ismat " means lit. "hifz," guarding [hence honour,
chastity'].— SUMMARY Or THE COUPLET: Though my skirt be
defiled through sin, and I be held in ill-repute by the world, what
harm ? i.e., there will not on this account he any diminution of
devotion to the Beloved, because all the world is a witness to the
chastity and purity of the Beloved.
(G) "Daur " means " zamau," time. [The literal moaning of
Majnoon is possessed with a jinn or demon, hence desperately in lovr.
It is the proper name of a man whose love for Leila is famous in
Eastern song; Rosenz. Schwannau aptly terms him the Orlando
furioso of the East. Cf. Byron, Bride of Ahydos, Canto I., iii, —
" There linger'd we, beguiled too long
With Mejnoun's tale, or Sadi's song."]
—SUMMARY OB THE COUPLET: Majnoon's time and turn is
passed, now is our turn; the turn of each person in this world
18 GHAZAL III. Letter To.
The kingdom of love, and the treasure of joy,
Whatever I have is of her propitious empire. 7.
is five days, i.e., however much a person may delay in this world
eventually he passes to the other world. Be it known that it is
a custom with the Persians to describe a life-time, whatever may
be its length, as a period of five days.
(7) "MulJcat " is written in Persian with a full Tv [instead
of the Arab, dotted hd, called in Persian "ta-e gird,"] here it is in
the sense of " mulk " or " mamlakat," kingdom, but sometimes it
is a noun of action meaning the exercise of kingly power. " Kdf
7ioon, jim," pronounced ganj, means pleasure, pronounced kunj it
means corner. Here either pronunciation is admissible. Shcm'i
and Sururi erred in confining the word to the former sense to the
utter exclusion of the latter. "Yum?i" is a noun of action from
[Arab, verb] "yamuna" [feline fuit, imperf.] "yamunu," of
the form of "husn," beauty, from "hasuna" [imperf] "yahsunu,"
in the sense of felicity. " Daulat" was used originally in two
senses, 1st, overcoming an adversary in battle [i.e., victory] ; 2nd,
the circulation of money from hand to hand, in which consists the
very object and use of money ; afterwards the word was used in
the sense of " 'izzat wa-'iqbfil," magnificence and good fortune.
]Iere " daulal-i-ost " means " daulati jfuiAu ast." [A certain com-
mentator] has made a mistake in saying that the pronoun of the
3rd oers. refers to God (He is exalted !), because it is forbidden
to consider [?] worldly prosperity or adversity as a certain mark
either of the favour or anger of God. [Cf. Koran lxxxix, 1G — 18,
"Moreover man, when his Lord trieth him (by prosperity)
Baith, ' My Lord honoureth me ;' but when He proveth him (by
adversity), he Baith, 'My Lord despiseth me.' Not so!"] —
SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET: The kingdom of love, and the
treasure (<>r corner) of joy, whatever may proceed from these, is
Letter TL GHAZAL III. 19
I and my heart if we be self-devoted, what fear !
The object set before me is but her well-being. 8.
May the watch-tower of my eye never be without her image,
Since this corner is her special boudoir. 9.
Every scented rose, that decks the garden,
Is a trace of the colour and scent of her presence. 10.
of the felicity of happiness and good fortune of that Beloved,
i.e., belongs to the Beloved. Since I have hecome connected with
his kingdom, I am become a very king.
(8) SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET: If I and my heart
become a ransom out of love for the Beloved, it is no cause for
anxiety, i.e., it does not matter. The object in the path of love
is her [or his] welfare. In a word, By our destruction no harm is
occasioned, only let the noble being and superior person of the
Beloved be in weal and safety.
(9) "Mabad" is the prohibitive 3rd pers. The 3rd pers.
imperf. is bad der. fr. " boo'idan." The be was originally with
fatha, but practically the zamma predominates. — SUMMAEY OP
THE COUPLET: Let the watch-tower of my eye never be with-
out the image of the Beloved, because this corner of my eye is
his [or her] special private apartment, and here there is place for
none other. That is, My eye and my heart are fixed upon her y
meaning — I will look on no other beside her.
(10) " Chaman-dray" a compound adj. from " 'ara'idan,"
meaning garden-decorator . " Suhbat " here means " muqaranat,"
intimate association.— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET: Every fresh
rose which has decorated the garden is a trace of the colour and
scent of association with that Beloved; i.e., The roses which deck
the rose-bed and rose-garden have borrowed their beauty from their
proximity to the colour and scent of the Beloved.
20 GHAZAL III. Letter TL
Regard not outward poverty, for the bosom
Of Hafiz is a treasure-house of Love. 11.
(11) "Fc, qafre" may be pronounced faqr or fuqr. They
say " faqir " of any oue who has sufficient for his daily mainte-
nance, and " maskin " of one who has nothing at all. Some say
just the reverse. "Mabin " is the 2nd pers. prohibitive from
;< binidan," meaning look not at. The address is general. "Ilafiz-
ra" the u ra" has here the force of the [Arab.] prep. "M" [used
as grammarians say "lil-milki," to indicate the right of property],
it means "of Hafiz." " Ganjhiah " is in the sense of " ganjoor "
or " khazinah-dar," a treasurer.— SUMMARY 0E THE COUPLET :
Look not to the exterior poverty of Hafiz, because his bosom is
the treasury of the love of the Beloved ; i.e., If outwardly he is
poor, inwardly he is filled with love and affection for the Beloved.
GlIAZAL IV.
Metke called Mujtatuth.
The head of my will and the threshold of my revered Friend,
For everything which comes on my head is [in accordance with]
the will of the Friend. 1.
Sudi's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " 'Iddrat " means ivish. In the word " wdw, 'alif t sin, te,
\dif noon" the waw must be read with fatha, and the 'alif
taken with fatha, as a letter of prolongation. This "and"
also expresses the idea of association [cf. iii. 3], " Hazrat"
and " mahzar " are said with respect to the presence and
certainty (yaqin) of any one as they use [in Arabic] the expres-
sions " bihazrati falan," in the presence of so and so, and " bi-
mahzarihi," in his presence. " Kih " is a causal particle. " Mi-
ravad " means comes, happens.— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET :
The head of our desire and the threshold of the prcsenco of the
Friend, i.e., willingly and ivith pleasure ive have laid our head on
the threshold of his nobility. Everything which passes over our
head is his will, we follow his will. "Bar sari ma iniravad," i.e.,
happens happily, because having come upon the threshold he will
not fail to enter I cf. ii. lj.
22 OIIAZAL IV. Letter Te.
The like of the Friend I have not seen, though of moon and
sun
I have held the mirrors opposite to the cheek of the Friend. 2.
What explanation can the Zephyr give of the state of my
anxious heart,
For, as the fold of the petals of the rose-bud, it is knot upon
knot. 3.
(2) SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET: The like and the
counterpart of the Friend (i.e., the Beloved) I have not
seen, although from the moon and from the sun I have set
mirrors opposite to the face of the Friend. That is, neither the
moon nor the sun is of such power, that either should be an ade-
quate representative (narnoodar) of a single perfection of his
beauty, because his face is better and more sublime than either
moon or sun. In this verse the learned man [Shem'i or Sururi ?~\
happened to catch the meaning of the word " dost."
(3) " Tang " (the Te with fatha and noon with jazm) means
narrow. They describe a lover as being " dil-tang," because his
heart is without hope and forlorn. " Shark" means explanation.
" Shikanj " means a knot. " To," with radical iciiw, means a fold
N.B. — Wdw, as well as He, is of two kinds, viz., " wawi asli,"
radical waio and "wawi rasmi," quiescent icaio. " "Wawi asli" is
pronounced ; " wawi rasmi " although written is not pronounced.
—SUMMARY OP THE COUPLET: How can the Zephyr know
how to give an explanation of the state of our straitened heart,
which like the petals of a rose-bud is fold upon fold and knot
upon knot. That is, the veils of our heart arc without limit and
without end, and within every veil of it what diverse sorrow and
grief and burning and melting and love and jealousy is there ; if
there be no aperture for the wind to enter by, it will only fan the
the head from above, so how can it know how to give an explana-
tion of the sorrow of our love ? In this verse HaQz complains of
the multitude of his sorrows.
Letter Te. GUAZAL IV. 23
I am no cup-drainer of this drunkard-burning tavern, and that
is enough !
Many a head is there in this workshop which is clay for the
cup. 4.
Perhaps thou hast combed thine ambrosial locks,
For the breeze breath's camphor, and the dust is scented with
ambergris. 5.
(4) " Saboo-Jcash" is a compound adj., it means cup-bearer,
" saboo " meaning an earthen vessel. " Dair," a Christian church.
" Rind-soz" is also a compound adj., it means drunkard-burner.
"U-bas," "bas" following "u" means only, Grer. allein. [He means
that ubas is equivalent to "wale" (or "walekin"), which we find
so often at the end of the first line of a couplet, see v. 2, vi. 9].
" Basd" means many a, it is used in the sense of bisydr. The , alif
of" s«ra" expresses excess (mubalaghat). Some have expressed
it as the sign of the vocative, supposing it to be equivalent to the
word '"ay." It means "how many heads!" " Kdr-Tchdnah" verbatim
business-house, originally it was a constructive compound hhanah~
e-hdr, house of business, afterwards by the transposition of its
component parts it was-welded.into a compound word, which they
used in the fixed sense of a house in which many persons are occu-
pied with a business, as carpenters, tailors, and other artisans. —
SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET : I at least am not a wine-drinker
and a wine-bibber (btidah-nosh oo-may-khwfirah) in this church,
which burns, consumes and torments drunkards; but many heads
in this work-shop are pot-earth. That is : in the church [or
tavern] of this old world I am not defiled and entrapped by pas-
sion and love, but passers-by, i.e., former generations ('abirin,
ya'ni, salaf), going into this workshop with passion and love, have
their heads filled with the dust of passion and love.
(5) "Mayor," in the sense of [Pers.] "gooyV [Arab.]
" ka'anna-hu," one would say that, or, as though it were. ''Jinbur-
24 GHAZAL IV. Letter T*.
'afshdn " is a compound adj. (from " afshiinidan ") meaning am*
bergris-scattering. " Ghaliyah " is a sweet scent compounded of
musk and ambergris ; and they call it ghaliyah because it is pre-
cious, from gliali meaning precious. Salaiman bin 'Abd-ul-Malik
is the first who speaks of this mixture called ghaliyah. " Ghdli-
yah-sd" is a compound adj. from "sa'idan, to rub. As Ibn Kama!
Pasba (G-od ordaineth mercy !) says. Couplet —
Subh 'iqbalameh chekdi sbami mihnat pardahsin
Zulf yuzindeh kih kafoor 'uzreh 'oldi mushk-sa.
"At my qood luck ) -.»- , ,. 7 .
A T J •' % 7 i L Morn s rosy liyht
As 1 approached ) * a
Drew back the veil of trouble's Night.
The locks upon his camphire face
Were musk-diffusing full of grace.
The origin of this [usage] is that musk and ambergris and ghali-
yah on being rubbed give forth a powerful scent, hence they arc
used to indicate scent. [Cf. Byron, Bride of Abydos, Canto II. v.
" Yes ! there is light in that low chamber,
And o'er her silken ottoman
Are thrown the fragrant beads of amber,
O'er which her fairy fingers ran."
Lines which he annotated thus — " When rubbed, the amber is
susceptible of a perfume, which is slight but not disagreeable."]
"Ambarboo " is a compound adj. meaning ambergris-scented. It is
necessary to call Shcm'i and Sururi to account here for taking the
termination " E>a " in the sense of -like.— SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET: One would say that thou hadst combed thy amber-
gris-diffusing locks, because the wind was compounding ghaliyah,
that is, because it was much scented. And moreover the dust
was ambergris-scented. In a word, It is as though thou hadst
combed thine, ambergris-scattering locks, for the wind and dust of all
the world arc scented, the wind with the scent of ghaliyah, and the
dust with tin- scent of ambar.
Letter Te. GRAZAL IV. 25
Strewn to thy face be every rose-leaf which is in the garden,
Devoted to thy form be every pine-tree which is on the stream-
shore. G.
The tongue of reason is dumb to rehearse the longing which he
inspires,
What use is the tongue-split reed speaking to no purpose. 7.
(G) " Nizdr " [with Arab, th, pronounced z in Pers.] is a
noun meaning scattering, the form " nazr " also occurs [in the
same sense]. " Bun " means literally basis, but in composition it
is transferred to the meaning of tree, thus they sometimes say
" gul-bun," meaning rose-tree, and " sarw-bun," meaning cypress-
tree. In a word, it denotes a material mass. — SUMMARY OP THE
COUPLET : Every rose-leaf which is in the garden let it be a
scattering [offering] to thy face ; every cypress-tree which is on
the bank of the stream let it be a ransom for thy form. The
wording of the verse is descriptive, but its force is optative.
Here Shem'i and Sururi take the meaning of " bun " to be root
or slwot, regardless of the technical use of the word in Persian
[when in composition with the name of a tree].
(7) " Zabdn-i-natiqah," i.e.,zabdn-i-qauwat-i-nat$q<ik, the tonqve
of the reasoning faculty, the word " qauwat " is omitted for the
sake of the metre. There is iztifat between the two words, or
[we may say] they are in a state of metaphorical construction.
" Shauq " here is in the sense of " 'ishtiyaq," longing. They say
"Idl " for speech-less. "Kdf, lam, kdf," is pronounced in Persian
Jcilk, but the European Turks pronounce it gillc. " Bi-hudah-gu,"
a compound adj. meaning speaking superfluously and pointlessly
(za'id wa-batil).— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET: The tongue of
the reasoning faculty is dumb to describe the longing of [or for,
the objective genitive] that Beloved; that is, is too weak to give a
true description of. Where has its tongue rested, a mutilated
babbling pen? In a word, Since the reason which is quick and
D
26 GRAZAL IV. Letter Te.
Thy cheek is come to mind, I shall obtain my desire,
For a good circumstance follows upon a good omen. 8.
This is not the first time that the heart of Hafiz has been on
fire with love,
For he has had from eternity a mole-mark like the spon-
taneously-growing tulip. 9.
living is too lame, and dumb to describe, can a pen, tvhich may be
vtade of things without life, and mag be qualified by two such dis-
paraging epithets, know how to give a full description ?
(8) "Jtukh-t-tic" is equivalent to "the vision of thy cheek."
" Dar dilam," " dar " has here the meaning of the preposition
« ba."]— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET : The vision of thy cheek
has come to my imagination, God grant that I may attain my
wish ! for a good event always follows upon a good omen. That
is, Thy cheek's being delineated on my heart is a blessed omen that
a state of union (hali waslat) is sure to follow.
(9) "Dag hddr" is a compound adj., verbatim it means mole-
holder, but according to usage it means " sahibi dagh, one who has
a mole, it is equivalent to "mal-dar" or "sahibi mal," one who has
a dagh or mtil. " 'Azal" denotes before Time was [cf. I. 4], and
" 'abaci," after Time ceases to be; both are among the attributes of
the essence of the Creator, of any other they can only be used
metaphorically. "Khwad-roo" is a compound adj., "khwad" means
self, and "roo" is derived from "roo'idan," to grodv, the compound
means self growing, i.e., any one by his own nurture; they say it
of the produce of this world.— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET:
The heart of Hafiz is not in the fire of desire only at this present,
i.e., is not now only burning with the fire of love, for the sake of
union with the Beloved; but like the spontaneously-growing
tulip [the flower of which looks like flames], he is from eternity
scarred by the fire of love. The rhyme of this Ghazal is accord-
Letter Te. GHAZAL IV.
iug to custom, e.g., in the word "d-ust" the te is the chief-rhyming
letter (harfi rawiy), the sin is. a supplementary rhymer (radifi
za'id), and the icdw is a radical letter also contributing to the
rhyme (radifi asli). But sometimes " dost " is made to rhyme in
a different manner to that in which it is used in the Matla', viz.,
the ivdiv is the chief rhyming letter (rawiy), the sin the connect-
ing link (wasl, or silah) between it and the final letter (khurooj),
[cf. III. 1. The terms seem to be used with meanings somewhat
differing from those given in Palmer's Arab. Gram., p. 374.]
Ghazal V.
Metre called Eamal.
That bronzed one, whose is the sweetness of the world,
The wine-coloured eye, smiling lip, und cheerful heart are his. 1.
Sudi's Commentary, translated from tlie Turkish.
(1) "Siyuli-cliardalc" Hack-brown. The final ye of "shinni"
changes the adj. into an abstract substantive. " Chashm-i-may-
gun,'" this is an eye, the white of which is red. Our poet means
this as ^commendation, but generally in books when they give
accounts of perfect beauty, it is esteemed a good point that the
parts of the eye which surround the iris should be white, and the
whiter the better. "Khanddn " is an ambiguous epithet meaning
smiling, delightful ; if he means by it smiling, the appearance
indicated may be perfect enough ; excessive laughter, however,
is considered a fault, so that he probably only means to affirm
that an agreeable expression of countenance is habitual to him.
" DH-irkkw-ram" means a gag (shad) heart— SUMMARY OF
THE COUPLET: That black-brown one [bronzed or brunette]
with whom are the sweetness and pleasure of the world, wine-
coloured eye, and smiling lip and merry heart are his ; i.e., he is
merry-faced, smiling -lipped, gay -hear ted (khurram-dil, mutabassim-
lab, khandan-roo), he is not sad-faced and down-hearted.
* [In the Giaour, describing Leila's eyes, Byron wrote, "But soul beam'd
forth in every spark — That darted from beneath the lid, — Bright as the ruby
of Jamshid." Moore wrote to him " that as the comparison of bis heroine's
<ye to a ruby might unluckily call to mind the idea of its being bloodshot, he
had better change the line to " Blight as the jewel of Jamshid," which he
accordhigly did. If either of them had remombered this line of Hafiz, they
might not have taken exception to the word " ruby."
Letter Te. GHAZAL V. 29
Although all sweet-mouthed ones are sovereigns, yet
He is the Solomon of the times, for he possesses the seal. 2.
The musk-mole which is on that wheat-eoloured cheek,
In it lies the secret of a grain's having been able to seduce
Adam. 3.
(2) Poets compare the mouth of a mistress to a signet, seal,
or ring, because smallness is reckoned a great beauty in a mouth.
Couplet —
Dihani tangi shirinash magar muhri Sulaymanast
Kih naqshi khatami la'lash jihan zer nigin darad.
" May be her mouth, so sweet and chiseled fine,
The virtues of Solomon's signet shares,
For the inscription on its ruby line
The lohole wide world beneath its bezel bears."
Since sweetness is specially applicable to the mouth, they are in
the habit of associating with it the notion of sweetness. — SUM-
MARY OP THE COUPLET: Although sweet-lipped-ones are
sovereigns, yet that Beloved is the Solomon of the period because
his is the seal. That is, every single beloved-one is a king in his
own right, but our Beloved is a chief, because the seal of beauty and
elegance is his. In a word, Tie is the perfection of Beloveds,
because beauty and charms are perfected in him.
(3) " Gandum-goon," wheat-brown [i.e., wheat-coloured]. —
SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET : The musky mole, which is on
the wheat-coloured cheek of that Beloved, the secret of the grain
which was the robber of Adam, is with that mole. That is, The
secret of the grain of wheat, which was the cause of Adam's
being driven out of the garden, is with the mole which is on his
wheat-coloured cheek. Every one who, on seeing that mole,
covets it, says farewell to happiness, peace, and quiet. [According
to one Muhammadan tradition is the forbidden fruit was an ear
of wheat, according to a second a fig, and according to the third
grapes'].
30 GHAZAL V. Letter Te.
My heart's ravisher intends to travel, friend for God's sake
[help] !
"What shall I do with a wounded heart, for he carries the
plaster ? -1.
Beautiful- faced, the perfection of virtue, pure of skirt is he,
Doubless the desire of all the pure ones of both worlds is fixed
on him. 5.
(4) "Khudd-rd," the rd denotes appropriation (tukhsis)
[cf. III. 11, VI. 5].— SUMMAKY OF THE COUPLET: My heart-
captivator has determined to travel ; for God's sake heal me [for
construction cf. ed. Rosenz. Schwan., Vol. I. No. 6, line 1], O
friend ! How can I treat a wounded heart, how heal it, when the
plaster is with that heart-captivator. That is, The heart being
unable to bear separation from him is agitated, O make a remedy
that the heart may find a little rest and quiet !
(5) "Bu-e khoob" (the be with zamma) is in the sense of
khoob-ru. " Kamdl-i-hunar," [kamal] is a nomen verbi in the
sense of a nomen agentis, [the compound] means "kamili hunar,"
perfect in virtue. " Ddman-i-pdk " is in the sense of pdk-ddman,
clean-shirted. In fact, the words of this line are somewhat per-
verted in their use. "Ldjaram " is in the sense of " labudda,"
inevitably, " lamahalah," infallibly, i.e., it means " muhaqqaq,"
known of a truth, "muqarrar," certain. "He, inim, te" (pro-
nounced himmat and hammat) means "qasd wa-'iradat," desire and
wish. By pdkdn are meant the saints, prophets, and angels. —
SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET : The heart-captivator, who deter-
mines to travel, is beautiful-faced and perfect in virtue, and pure-
skirted, hence of a certainty (Arab. " 'albattah ") the desire of the
pure ones of both worlds is with him. That is, such beauties are
there in him, that necessarily all the prophets and angels devote their
attentions to Mm.
Letter Te. GRAZAL K 31
To whom can one proclaim this anomaly, that that stony-
hearted one
Has slain me, and yet the [healing] hreath of Jesus [the son]
of Mary is his. G.
Hafiz is of the number of the believers, honour thou him,
Because the favour of many an honoured spirit is his. 7.
(6) " Guft" is here in the sensa of "guftan," because
"tuiodn" is in the sense of the aorist, and it is a fixed rule that,
when following the perfect or aorist, [the shortened form]
expresses the sense of the infinitive.— SUMMAKY OF THE
COUPLET : To whom is it possible to tell the anomaly, that that
stone-hearted one has killed us, when the fact is that he is the
possessor of the breath of 'Isa [Jesus]. That is, It was a special
jrroperfy of the breath of 'Isa to raise the dead, and the Beloved
though possessor of that breath has slain us, consequently to whom can
one tell this ? for the fact is a contradiction. He complains of the
Beloved's disdain for him.
(7) The meaning of " mu'taqiddn " is " muhibban," lovers,
since in common parlance they call '"ashiq" [_a lover'] "mu'taqid."
"Kdf, re, 'alif mini, ye" (the kdf being pronounced with kasra or
zamma) is in the sense of " 'aziz wa-muhtaram," precious and
honoured. Cf. Grulistan-i-Sa'di [vii. 8. Ed. Johnson, p. 131, where
apropos of the story, " I saw a Bedouin who was saying to his
son, ' O son, they will ask thee at the resurrection, what are thy
merits ? not, Who is thy father? ' " he says]
Jiimah-e ka'bak-ra kih mi-poshand,
'U nah 'az kirmi-pelah nana shud:
Ba 'azizi nishast rozi chand,
Lajaram hamchu 'u kirami shud.
" The silken cloth, with which the Ka'ba's dressed,
Does not its honour from the silk-worm claim :
From its long dwelling with an object blest,
By consequence it is revered the same."
32 GIIAZAL V. letter Tl
" Ddr-ash" "ddr" is impert. 2nd pers. from ddridan, it means
liave thou. The pronom. suff. " ash " refers to Hafiz. " Bakh-
shdyish." is a nomen actionis from bakshaidan, it denotes "tarah-
huin," compassion,. The expression " ruh-i mukanam" is used for
the spirits vf the prophets and saints.— SUMMABY OF THE COUP-
LET : O Beloved, HMz is beloved and one of the devoted, hold
thou him precious, for the spirits of many prophets and saints
are with him. That is, Hafiz is of the number of the pure and
pure-skirted friends, esteem and honour him because many spirits
are to him aiders and abettors of his desire to be good. In a
word, He is one of the people of God, compare him not toith other
lovers and loved ones.
Ghazal VI.
Metre called Muzaaei'.
I have hope of kindness on the part of the Friend,
I have committed a crime, and I hope for his forgiveness.
I know that he passes over the head of my guilt ; for he,
Although a Peri. in beauty, yet is an angel in disposition.
Sudi's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) The final ye in " 'dfifati " and "jdndyatl " may denote
unity or indefnitencss. Shan't and Sururi have erred in confining
it to one only of these meanings, '•'atifat" means "shafqat," kind-
ness ; it is a pres. partic, and of the same form as its fern, is the
nomen actionis. "Jandb" a court (hauli) and the sides of a house,
[cf. " Yarkethey bhayith," Ps. cxviii. 3]. " Jindyat" is equivalent
to "gunah," a fault.— SUMMARY OP THE COUPLET: From the
gracious-presence of the Friend I hope for mercy, (or, for one act
of mercy) ; I have committed a fault, hut I hope for his forgive-
ness. That is, / do not despair of mercy and kindness from the
Friend, because he is most exceedingly generous, and although I
have sinned, yet I hope for pardon and forgiveness, because he is
forgiving and ready to pardon.
(2) Both "jurm" and "jarimat" mean " gunah," fault.
They say " Pari " for a spirit (jinn). The termination " -vash "
denotes -like. There is however this difference between Pari and
Jin, a distinction which is usually observed by people, viz., that
jin-like would imply that he is of a disposition to be feared, while
E
34 GHAZAL VI. letter Te.
We wept so much that every one who passed by
Our tears, when he saw them flowing, said, " What stream is
this F " 3.
pari-like has no such sinister meaning —SUMMAEY OP THE COUP-
LET : I know that the Beloved will pass over the extremity [or
cause] of, i.e., the " jihat " [side, face, form, reason, by which he
paraphrases the Pers. " sar "] of, my fault, because although he
is Pari-like, yet he is an angel in disposition. In this couplet he
most artistically gives a piquancy to his praise by introducing just
a soupcon of blame. For the expression " For although he is
Pari-like, " though an unqualified encomium on his beauty,
followed as it is by the adversitive "yet," leaves an impression on
the mind of the reader that some sort of disapprobation was
implied in it. And then again by the expression "an angel in
disposition " he confirms the praise which he had expressed but
equivocally at first. Shem'i and Sururi in rendering it "He will
pass over the head and intention (Arab, haw) of my crime and
delinquency " have missed the true meaning.
(3) " Chmdan" to such a degree. The " bar " of " bargu-
zashV is a particle used in composition with the verb to intensify
its meaning. " Dar-ashk-i md" " dar" is here equivalent to " J az"
[cf. construction of the preceding couplet]. " Ma " qualities
•' ashk," and " dcvr-asJilc" is to be taken in close connection with
" ba/r-guzasht." " Bavdn " is an ambiguous epithet. It is a word
of many meanings, amongst them are those oi' flowing and going,
e.g., if it be an epithet of " 'ab," tcater, it means flowing, but if it
be an epithet of "a traveller" it means going. "Kin " was
originally " kih 'in," when compounded it becomes " kin." " Ju "
is used either with or without final ye. But when izdfat is
required, the ye must always be expressed. — SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET : We wept to such an extent from love for the
Letter Te. OHAZAL VI. 33
Our head as a ball have we lost at play at the head of thy street,
No one knew, what was the ball or what the street. 4.
Without either voice or language, thy locks draw hearts,
To thy heart-drawing locks who has the face to address voice
or language ? 5.
Beloved, that every one who passed by our tears, i.e., when he
saw them flow, was astounded and said, " "What is this river ? "
That is, Love for the Beloved caused such grief and lamentation,
that a flood and river became manifest and flowed, so that every one
on seeing and passing by this stream said, " What stream is this.''"
(•i) " Goo " here means a ball. " Sari koo-e " means the end
of a quarter of a town, or the head of a street. [There is ofcourse
a play upon the words goo, a ball, and koo, a street]. " Bdkhtim "
is an active verb, we played, i.e., staked. — SUMMAEY OF THE
COUPLET : At the extremity of thy quarter we played our heads,
like a ball, no one knew, or was aware, what ball this was, or what
street this was. That is, For love of the Beloved ice devoted our
souls and heads [i.e., our life], but no one knew who it is that
devotes this soul and head, nor for whose love it is. In a word, Love
for the Beloved we kept in the heart as hidden from others, as the
very soul.
(5) " Guft-u-goo" is a substantive, therefore " bi " is cor-
rectly placed before it, for the prefix "bi," without, naturally
occurs with substantives, but not with other parts of speech. It
means talking, backbiting. " Hami " denotes the present tense.
"Bd" is [ordinarily] used as a preposition, but here it has the
force of a transitional particle, it has the force of " this being the
case." "Dil-kas/t " is a compound adj. meaning heart-drawing, it
is used in two senses ; 1st heart-taking, 2nd heart-drawing, i.e.,
causing " jarr wa-jazb," drawing and dragging. "Kird " is com-
pounded of " kih " and " ra." " Kih " is a pronoun equivalent to
36 GHAZAL VI. Letter Te.
A life-time is it since we smelt the scent of thy locks,
The palate of my heart still retains some of that scent. G.
[Arab.] "man," who, which has reference to a. person, not a thing.
"Rd " is a particle of appropriation [Cf. III. 11, V. 4]. "Kira"
means ichose? Shem'i in saying that it means "to ichom?" has
missed the true meaning. " JZu-e" here is " wajh," /ace, reason,
in the sense of " jihat," face, reason, [as] they say "chih wajh
ast ? " or " chih 'asl ? " what reason is there ?— SUMMARY OF
THE COUPLET: Thy lochs without language, i.e., without causes,
('ilal) or pretext (bihanah) draw the heart, consequently who
has reason (wajh) for discussion (guft-u-goo) with thy heart-
drawing locks. That is, Upon the supposition that thy lochs, with-
out speaking, simply by remaining quietly in their place, captivate
the heart of the distraught, who has the pawer (majal) to delate
with thy heart-drawing locks? [That is, since they are drawn
without the point being debated, they have no opportunity of
saying " Nay."]
(6) The final ye of " 'umri " denotes unity; the word means
one time (zamani), one life-time (Arab, muddat 'ihda). The ye of
" boo-e " denotes unity. " Mashdm," the nostrils, i.e., in the nose,
which is the organ of smelling. "Hanuz" means now, [still]. —
SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET : It is an age since smelling one
scent from thy locks ; and of the odour which I smelt from those
locks there is still a scent in the nostrils of my heart. That is, A
single scent of thy locks once penetrated, and with its odour since
what length of time have I satisfied myself! and now though I take
it from the nostrils of my heart, the scent does not depart. Here
" shanidah" has the sense of "boo'idah," that is, he has used the
sense of hearing for the sense of smelling. This usage is frequent
in poetic language. Hemistich —
Boo-e bunafshah bishnau oo-zulfi nigar gtr.
Sear thou a purple smell,
Seize the locks of the belle.
Letter Te. GHAZAL VI. 37
A mere nothing is that mouth, of which I can discern no trace,
A mere hair is that waist, and I know not what hair. 7.
(7) " Hech-ast an dahdn " he predicated nothingness of the
mouth, because smallness is considered a great beauty in a mouth.
It is on account of smallness being considered a beauty in a
mouth, that the poets call it " jauhari fard," a single gem, and
"juz' la-yutajazza," an indivisible atom, and "nuqtah-e mauhoom,"
mi imaginary point. And some make in altogether nothing, so
that neither sign nor mark of it remains; as Kamal says —
Couplet — v
"Wasfi danani tangi tu bisyar shunidem
Eaftetn va-bi nam-u-nishan hech nadidem
Of thy narrow mouth we've heard much talk,
We came and found nil, nor sign nor mark.
[Cf. Fazli's Grul-u-bulbul, X. 42, where of the mouth he says —
" The world God made of what is net,
How can I speak of what is not ? "J
" Mooyast an jniydn." He compares the waist to a hair, because
the more slender the waist the more it is admired. Couplet —
Miyani yar chu moo-yast naqshi man darad
Kayali bin kih 'azo nazagi hami barad.
The Friend's small icaist is what a hair !
And mine oxon portrait she doth bear ;
Consider well that thin phantom,
Which takes its slenderness therefrom.
— STJMMAKY OP THE COUPLET : The mouth of the Beloved is
a [mere] nothing, for I see no sign or mark of it ; and her waist
is a [very] hair, but I know not what hair that is. In one coup-
let the two comparisons of the mouth and the waist to a hair are
beautifully combined. Couplet —
Miyan mooyi buvad 'az kakuli 'ambarafshanj 'u
Dahan ham yak sari moo bashad'az moo-e miyani 'u.
33 QHAZAL VI. Letter Te.
I am astounded at the image of the vision of thee, how that it
is not departed
From my eye, the business of which every moment is washing
and washing. 8.
Hafiz, bad is thy distraught condition, yet
In the \ / , [ of the Friend's locks thy distraction is good. 9.
Her tcaist a hair ta 1 en from her locks
Scent-diffusing for thickness mocks ;
And of one such hair just the tip
May well depict her tiny lip.
(8) The pronoun stiff, "ash" of " dambadam-ash" is to be
construed with " kar." " Shust " is derived from shustan, and
" shu " from shuridan. Shicstan, means to zvash, and shuridan
must here mean to clean, consequently " shust-u-shu " is a noun
meaning being washed and cleaned.— SUMMARY OP THE COUP-
LET : I am astounded at the portrait of thine image how it is
that it is not gone from my eye, the business of which is to be
perpetually washed and cleaned. That is, Through the emotion of
love to such a degree do I weep and lament, and such streams flow
from my eye, that I am astounded at the portrait of thine image that
it should not depart from my eye ivhich is so icashed and cleaned.
In some copies [Calcutta, ed. 1826,] "khayal-ash" occurs (instead
of " khayal-at ") his (i.e., the Beloved's) image.
(9) " Boo-e' n here may have one of two meanings, either
scent or hope. Consequently it is an error to confine it to the
meaning of scent, with Shem'i and Sururi.— SUMMAEY OP TEE
COUPLET: O Hafiz, thy distraught and unrestrained (na-
mazboot) condition is bad, but through hope (or, on account of
the scent) of the locks of the Beloved, thy distraction is good.
That is, Through distraction caused by separation thy case is bad,
but through the hope of the peace of union thy distraction is good.
The end of thy separation is union.
Ghazal VII.
Metee called Eamal.
That Night of Might of which recluses speak is to-night.
Lord ! this happy influence from which star did it proceed? 1.
Sudi's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) The final ye. of " Qadri " is meant to express unity or
indejiniteness ; Shem'i and Sururi were wrong in confining its
force to an expression of unity. " Khahcat " and " Khala "
[retirement'] are nouns of action from " khala " Fut. " yakhloo,"
vacuus fuit. " Tmshab " was originally " 'in shab," but with
"shab," night, " roz," day, and " sal," year, the noon of "in" is
necessarily changed into mini. " Yd rah!" as here has sometimes
the sense of" 'ajba" [i.e., is an exclamation of astonishment], as
has been observed above [cf. IX. 5.]. " Kuddmin" huddm, which.''
of the termination "2«" the ye is to express relationship (ya'i-
nisbat), and the noon to make it still more emphatic (ta'kidi
nisbat). But some say that kuddmin and kudam are perfectly
identical in meaning, and that the termination "$»" adds nothing
to the force of the words, God the Most High knows ! [i.e., I
cannot decide the question], " Kaulcab" is a star. — SUMMARY
OP THE COUPLET : That night of might, which men of retire-
ment mention is to-night : Good Lord ! to the influence of what
star is this happiness to be attributed, or from which star does it
proceed ? It may be that the Poet had obtained one night of
union, hence wondering at the influence of his star, he says, O
Lord ! this greatest felicity of what star is it the influence, for I
never asked any star for this happiness.
40 GHAZAL VII. Letter Te.
That the band of the unworthy may not come to thy locks,
Every heart in the assembly cries out " O Lord ! Lord ! "
(2) The couplet beginning "'andar 'an maukib" ought to be
written before this couplet, and the couplet " sbahsu vari man "
ought to immediately precede the makhlas [or closing couplet],
so that the repetition of the rhyme [" ma\'Jcabast "] may not strike
the eye so much. The fact had escaped our notice, otherwise we
should have made the remark earlier. "Ti." is a causative par-
ticle [meaning in order that]. " Gisoo" is explained to mean a
ringlet of hair. Couplet [from some rhyming vocabulary] — ■
" Sach beulukidar gisoo
Bilmez kishi ndddn dar,"
i.e., Turkish "sach beuluki," a ringlet of hair,' 1 '' is synonymous
with Pers. "gisoo," and Turk, "bilmez kishi," an ignorant person,
with Pers. ndddn. " Ndsazdydn, " the termination " an " is
attached to nouns denoting persons to express the plural. The
prefix "nd" of " ndsazdg " is equivalent to [the Turkish termina-
tion] " sez " [i.e., to the Gr. a priv.] They explain " ndsazd "
of one who is unworthy. Hemistich —
" Ndsazd " 'oldar kih la'iq 'olmaya,
i.e., Pers. " nasaza " denotes one who is not " la'iq " [i.e., not
worthy], " Kavi " occurs sometimes in the sense of "tark," aban-
donment, cessation, as [in a former Ghazal beginning " 'agar an
Turk-i SMrdzi," Ed. Eosenz. Schwau. Vol. I, p. 24] was clear in
the phrase "razi dahr kamtar choo," "the secret of fate seek less,' 1
[i.e., leave off seeking]. So Sururi explains it as meaning " less,"
rendg. " kam rasad " by " may arrive less." The final ye of " dilV
denotes unity or indeftnitcness, Sururi and Shem'i erred in con-
fining it to the sense of unity. " Halaah " so pointed denotes a
circle of persons (da'irat-u 'insan), but when the Idm is with
fat ha it has another meaning [viz., the link of a coat of mail).
'• Yd rah ! yd rab ! " is here used as a prayer. — SUMMARY OP
Letter Te. GIIAZAL VII 41
I am slain by the dimple of thy chin, for on every side
A hundred thousand necks of souls are prisoners of thy double
chin. 3.
My cavalier, to whose face the moon is mirror-bearer,
The crown of the lofty sun is the dust of the hoof of his
charger. 4.
THE COUPLET : That the hand of the unworthy may not reach
thy ringlet, every heart, [or a single heart], in an assembly is
occupied in exclaiming " O Lord ! " That is, That the hand of
rivals may not reach thy ringlet, the hearts which are in their
assembly make prayer and supplication to God, saying " O Lord !
O Lord!"
(3) " Zanakhddn," the jaw-bone, here means chin. The pro-
nom. suff. "ash" of "sadhazdr-ash" refers to " chdh-i-zanakhddn,"
and in translation is to be taken with " ghabghab." " Tauq" is
is here equivalent to " cbambar," a circle. Both "ghabghab " and
" ghabab " meant originally that which hangs down under the
throat of a cock, [the wattles], but in Persian they apply it to the
fleshy circle under the human chin, [what we call a double chin],
which the Turks call " saqaq," and it is esteemed a great point in
those who affect good looks. " Tauq-i-ghabghab" then, means "the
roundness of the chin."— SUMMAKY OF THE COUPLET: I am the
killed and slain of the dimple of thy chin, for on every side a
hundred thousand necks of souls are under the circle of thy
double chin. That is, Such a degree of beauty and charm has the
double chin given to the Beloved, that every one who sees him
becomes his prisoner and subject.
(4) Some editions have "na'li sumi markabast." " Sharsu-
wdr," royal cavalier. " 'A'inahddr " is generally used for a tire-
woman (mashitah) ; also, one who takes a mirror in his hand, and
carries and presents it to another, who takes the mirror and looks
r
42 GHAZAL VII. Letter Tt.
Look at the reflexion of the moisture on his cheek, for the hot-
going sun
Being ever desirous of this moisture, is every day in a fever. 5.
into it, and gives to the former a small sum of money [for the use
of the mirror], such an one is called " 'a inah-dar " or " 'a'inah-
kardan." The poetical wording of the second hemistich is capa-
ble of a double interpretation, according as you take " taj " as
subject or predicate.— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET : My royal
cavalier, to whom the moon is mirror-bearer, i.e., his constant
attendant, the crown of the lofty sun is the dust of the hoof of
his steed. By this is intended very great praise of his Beloved ;
That is, He is of such high dignity, that the moon is his attendant,
and the sun his groom.
(5) "Khe, wdto, ye," is written with toavo and pronounced
"kfray," it means '"araq," moisture. " Garmrav" means going
quickly ; She?n'i has made an egregious blunder in rendering it
the hot-faced. The meaning of " har roz " is continually, con-
stantly (Arab, dawaiu wa-thabat). That is, Since the sense of
vision is unable to look at the sun, on account of the strength of
the perfection of its rays, it appears [on account of the unsteadi-
ness of the eye] as though the sun itself were trembling, and the
perpetual trembling he calls "a fever." Our author has put
"tab " and " 'araq " together on account of the connection which
subsists between heat and perspiration. — SUMMAEY OF THE
COUPLET: Look at the image of the pearl-like drops on the clear
cheek of the Beloved, for the sun, which goes very swiftly, every
day on account of its longing for this moisture, experiences a
heating. That is, While there is still [" hanooz " in explanation
of " tdhast "] moisture in the fountain of his perfectly clear and
charming cheeks, before it be itself risen to the surface, behold
its reflexion upon the skin, for the swift-goiug sun, while it gazes,
Letter Tl GHAZAL VII. y.\
I will not forego the Friend's ruby-lip, and the cup of wine,
Ascetics, excuse ine, for this is my religious-tenet. 6.
Mid the cavalcade, who have put a saddle on the back of the
Zephyr,
With Solomon how can I drive, for my charger is an ant. 7.
every day trembles like one in a fever (mahmoom) for desire of
this, i.e., out of longing to see its reflexion, saying, " May I see
the reflexion of the moisture upon his cheek." A certain person
in explaining " 'aks " by "latafat," elegance, did not catch th«
poet's meaning.
(6) "Kard" is here used for Jcardan, because it is con-
strued with the future. "La'li ydr" [lit. the ruby of the friend],
means the lip, simply by way of comparison. "Zdhiddn " is the
vocative. " Ddridam " is the second person plur. with the objec-
tive pronomiual suffix. " 'in-am," " %n " is a demonstrative pro-
noun, and " am " is the pron. suff. of the first person, it is to be
taken in translation with " mazhab," as though it were written
"mazhabam 'inast."— SUMMARY OP THE COUPLET: I will not
desert the lip of the friend nor the cup of wine, O ascetics grant
me pardon, for such is my habit. That is, In this has my life been
spent, and to this am I habituated, it is very difficult for me to
depart from it. [Turkish] hemistich —
Khayli mushkildar kishi tark 'ilmek mu'tadini.
It is very difficult for a person to abandon a habit.
(7) "Maukib," the mim with fatha, and the Mf with kasra,
is here a troop of horse. " JPusht," back. "Zin," saddle. To
bind a saddle on the wind means to ride upon the wind. "Bird-
nam," randan means to exile, but here it is equivalent to to ride
bridle to bridle," i.e., to ride side by side, (to be a " ham'inan ").
" Mur" is an ant. The meaning of "markab" is here a mount, a
saddle horse— SUMMARY OP THE COUPLET: Among those
44 GHAZAL VII. Letter Tc.
The water of life drips from the heak of its eloquence,
The raven of my pen, Gk>d bless it! what a lofty-draughted
one it is !
cavaliers who saddle and mount the wind, I cannot be a com-
panion of King Solomon, for my steed is an ant. That is, Amid
the beauty and grace of his companions, who in beauty are worthy
to personate another Presence, I cannot be the companion of my
Beloved, for my best steed is not so good as an ant. Some copies
have "kay," when? in the place of "choon." Some one in defiance
of the true meaning of " biranam " has rendered " When shall I
go up with Solomon ? " thus entirely losing the drift of the whole
clause. In this Grhazal the same rhyme is repeated [viz., " mar-
kabast " in 4 and 7], consequently it would have been right that
one of these couplets should have been placed immediately after
the matla' [or opening couplet], so that the blemish might have
been less observable [cf. note on 1st couplet].
(8) " ' ' Ab-i-haywdn " means " Vib-i-haydt," toater of life. The
" ash " of " haywdn-ash " is the pronom. suff. referring to " zdgh,"
the pronoun being introduced before the mention of the noun to
which it refers [cf. XII. 7]. " Minqah," the beak of a bird, the
bealc of a pen, i.e., its point is compared to a beak. "Mi-chakad"
is a verb in the present tense, meaning drips, derived from
"chakidan." "Zdgh," a raven. " Kilk" "qalam," a pen, it is
compared to a raven in blackness. " Bandmizad " is a word of
approbation, meaning bdrak alldh, Good God ! [Farhangi Shurfiri,
lex. pers.-turk, explains it by Arab. " tooba, lahu " (which would
be in Hebr. " 'asberav "), happy is he!] Shem'i has altogether
misunderstood the word, he says that it is a compound, the "bd"
being the particle expressing swearing by, and " nam " in its lit.
meaning of name, and the whole means In the name of God ! —
SUMMAKY 01 THE COUPLET: The raven of my pen, bdrak
Alldh ! what a lofty draughted one it is, for from the beak of its
45 GRAZAL VII. letter Te.
He who with a furtive glance shoots an arrow into my heart,
Hafiz's daily bread depends upon his furtive smile. 9.
eloquence drips the water of life. He means to commend his own
eloquence. His attributing it to his pen is metaphorical. The
conjunction of " minqar," beak, and " baldghat," eloquence, is
figurative. " Bandmizad " in the majority of passages is used to
imply approbation (tahsin) .
(9) "Navah" a reed-arrow, that is the arrow of a cross-bow,
so called from its being made of reed. "Zir-i-chashm-i," the final
ye denotes indefiniteness. "Zir-i-chashm " means from under the
eye, i.e., furtively (nihani). " Qaut-i-jdn means sjjiritual food
(ghada-i rooh). ll Khandah-e-zir-i-lab " means smiling, i.e.,
the act of smiling. — SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET: That
Beloved who from under his eye strikes my heart with the arrow
of a glance, the nourishment of the life of Hafiz depends on his
smiling under his lip. That is, Casting his eyes furtively on Hafiz,
his smile gives life to his spirit.
Ghazal VIII.
Metre called It ah a l.
Seek not devotion, fidelity and piety from me the drunkard,
For on the day of "Alast " I became noted for drain- draining. 1.
Sudi's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " Ma-talab" is second pers. sing, prohibative, from tola-
biddn, meaning seek not. Talab is an Arabic word. An Arabic
word which may be used in Persian, i.e., which is susceptible of
[Persian] grammatical inflexion so as to occur as a noun, a past,
an aorist, an imperative or a prohibative, is called " ma'mool,"
e.g., talabidan, to seek, tirzidan, to embroider. " Td'at " originally
meant " 'inqiyad'" obedience, afterwards they used it in the sense
of " 'ibadat/' divine, service. " Pay man " means "qaul wa-qirar."
agreement [cf. 'ahd" I. 1]. " Saldh " "is the opposite to " fasad,"
depravity. " Mast " means [the same as Arab.] " 'asrak," drunk.
" Paymdnah-kash'" is a compound adj. meaning [lit.] ciip-drainar,
its proper meaning is wine-bibber. " Shuhrat" (= " shuhrah ") is
a nomen verbi meaning promulgating, but here it has the force of
a pass, partic. [famed}. Stanza —
Gar shudah shavi bashahr sharri 'lnasi
"War goshah-nishin shavi hama waswasi
Bih zan nabavad kari Khizr-u-'Uvasi
Kas nashinasad tura tu kas nashinasi.
If in the city as man's evil thou shonldst be known,
And as a hermit a very Tempter shouldst become,
No better thereby would Julias' power become,
No person wouldst thou know, thyself by none wouldst be x
known.
Letter Te. GIIAZAL VIII. 17
I, just as I was performing my ablutions at the fountain of love,
,Tpok a sad farewell of everything that is. /, 2. /^ ,
J 4 aid /* TZ>£fr/^i e /- s r /c <*<^ &?~£sl^. y^c^ ; ft,^, fc ^^
In "Alast " the hamza is the Arabic interrogative. " Last " [pro-
perly " lastu "] is a verb 1st pers. sing. prof, from " lays," which
is one of the defectives, being used only in the perfect. ''Alastu"
means am L not ? "Bdz-i-alast " means the day on which God
[He is exalted !] said to the spirits "Am L not your Lord? " [The
legend is founded upon Koran VII. 171, " And when thy Lord
drew forth their posterity from the loins of the sons of Adam,
and took them to witness against themselves, saying 'Alastu hi-
rabbikum? 'Am not L your Lord?'' they answered 'Bald shahid-
nd,' ' Yea ! we bear witness to the fact? "] There is a long discus-
sion on this point, which is to be found in the commentaries on
the Koran. Here " ruz-i-alast " alludes to " r6zi-'azal," before
Time teas.— SUMMARY OP THE COUPLET: Obedience and
divine-service and compact and covenant and good works expect
not from me, for on the day of Eternity [i.e., before being born
into this world] I was renowned for wine-bibbing. That is, Ex-
pect not from me, who am a confirmed old drunkard and wine-bibber,
O ye who are given up to outward observances ('ay ahli zahir),
works meet for piety and devotion, for you will not get them.
(2) " Char takbir zadam" the prayer at the burial of the
dead, contains four takbir-s [ascriptions of praise to God] ; hence,
when it is necessary to abandon any one entirely, they say " char
takbir baro zadam," " I have said four takbirs over him," i.e., I
have parted from him [cf. the Eoman Vale! vale! vale!] — SUM-
MARY OP THE COUPLET : At the moment that I took the ablu-
tion ('abdast) from the fountain of love, at one stroke I said four
takbirs over all the affairs of this world. That is, When I became
a lover, out of love for the Beloved L entirely renounced everything
else which had the slightest appearance of affection.
48 GHAZAL VIII. Letter Te.
Give wine, that I may give thee information about the secret
of fate,
"Whose face it is I am in love with, with whose scent I am drunk. 3.
.The strength of the mountain is less than the strength of the
ant here,
Be not in despair of mercy, O devotee of wine. 4.
A
(3) The final ye converts 'agah [for 'agah], intelligent, into
" dgahi," intelligence, information. " Qasd " means God's decree.
—SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET: Give me wine, that I may give
the intelligence of the secret of fate and fortune, viz., of whose
face I am the lover, and with whose perfume I am intoxicated.
That is, Give wine, that becoming drunk and nolens volens revealing
secrets, I may speak of love and courtship, and let out little by little
whose loved I am, and with ivhose perfume I am intoxicated. For
wine is a jewel which of a truth reveals what is in my heart, as
they say [in the Turkish proverb] ''In drunkenness a man speaks
what he thinks when he is sober," [i.e., In vino Veritas. Compare
the naive Span. Prov. El vino no trae bragas ni de pa«o ni de
lerco.]
(4) " Kamar-i-koh" the strength of the mountain. "Kam,"
less. " ' Kamar-i-nwr ," " kamar" here means strength. " 'Injdh,'"
here, i.e., in the province of love. " Dari rahmat " with izdfat
between the two words.— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET : The
strength of the mountain is less, i.e., it is weaker (za'iftar) than
the strength of the ant, viz., here, i.e., in bearing the burden of
love: thou lover, that drinkest the wine of love for the Beloved,
despair not of the door of mercy from the Beloved. That is,
Since the mountains cannot support the heavy burden of love for the
Beloved, do thou, who drinkest the wine of love for the Beloved,
thyself bear it, and despair not of mercy and compassion from the
Beloved, for verily the strength of love will give thee union with the
Beloved.
Letter Te. GRAZAL VIII. 49
Except that drunken narcissus, (to which may the evil eye not
come !)
Under that Turquoise-dome no one ever sat happy. 5.
(5) "Bajuz," the letter be is servile. The "ash " of "chashm-
ash " refers to " narqis," which is used metaphorically of the eye.
"Marasad" is [properly] the prohibative 3rd pers. sing, from rasd-
nidan, to cause to arrive, but here it is the [neg.] optative [from
ra&idan]. They use the expression as equivalent to "may the evil
eye not reach ;" here it is a pretty parenthetical clause. The re
of " tar am " may be pronounced with, fatha or gamma. They call
the tent which the nomade [Tartars] pitch and sit in " ddl re
mim." [In Turkish words to-e (of hutti, not the te of qarashat)
is ofteu pronounced as ddl, e.g. " To-e, alif, re" "narrow," is
pronounced dar. " To-e, icdw, Saghir-noon, ze, " a pig," is pro-
nounced domuz, and in the very next sentence Sudi writes " cha-
har-taq," " a four-domed edidce," thus "chardaq."] In explaining
" tarum " by " chardaq," [a certain commentator] overlooked the
above-mentioned fact. " FirCzah" is "pirozah" arabized; it is
a kind of jewel, the name of a stone of an azure colour. Here
the " turquoise-dome " [azure-vault] is used figuratively fur the
heavens (falak).— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET: None other
besides that drunken eye of tho Beloved, (which may the cruel
eye not touch!) has sat down in content and happiness under
this azure-coloured heaven. The meaning of which may be, The
eye of the Beloved is solely occupied in wounding the heart and
spilling the blood of lovers, and in other cruelties which emanate
from him, no one lias any escape from them. If one say " O thou,
that dost these things, why didst thou act so ? " he simply
remains sitting quietly and contentedly in his place, whereas any
one else would experience just retribution for his acts.
50 QIIAZAL VIII. Letter Tc.
May my life be tlie ransom of thy mouth, for in the garden of
sight
The garden-decorator of the world never bound anything
prettier than this rose-bud. G.
(G) In the word "fe, ddl, alif" if the jft? be with Jcasra, there
may be madda or not, [i.e., the two Arabic forms with " fa mak-
soor" are "fida'un" and "fidan], but, if the f$ be with fatha, the
only admissible form is without madda [viz., "fadan "]. " Fidi-
yah" [Arab, "fidyat"], "fida" and "fada" have all the same
meaning ; they explain these words as meaning " Deliverance by
means of giving something in behalf of some one," and so in some
passages they are equivalent to " Qurban," an offering, sacrifice.
"Bad" is the imperative mood 3rd singular, it has the force of
an optative. " BdgJi-i-nazar" the arrangement of the words is
" baghi 'alami nazar," the garden of [the world of] sight, the con-
struct 'dlami being omitted. " Chaman-drdyi'" is a compound
adj., it is in construction with "jahdn ;" the arrangement of the
words is " chamani jahan 'aray, decorator of the garden of the
world. According to the canon (maz-hab) of the authodox (ahl-
i-sunnat) " chaman-drag " means the Creator (hhallaqi'alam), and
according to that of Philosophers (hukama) it means the Bestower
of forms (Nahib-us-suwar), of which mention has already been
made by our author. The meaning of " ghunchah" rose-bud is
mouth, which the Persian poets compare to a rose-bud, but the
Turkish poets compare the lip to a rose-bud, and it is a distinc-
tion without a difference.— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET : May
my life be a ransom for thy mouth, for in the garden of the world
of sight the gar-den-decorator of the world, i.e. God, hath bound
no more beautiful rose-bud than this. That is, In the garden of
the world no mouth has heen created more pleasant, letter formed, or
tweeter (mauzoon u-matboo' u-shirin) than thine.
Letter T4. G1IAZAL VIII. 51
Ilafiz from the fortune of his love for thee is become a Solomon,
That is, from his union with thee he has nothing in his hand
but wind. 7.
(7) In the word- " sulaymann" the final ye denotes indefi-
niteness ; Sliem'i, who says that it means unify, disregarded the
sense.— SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET .- Hafiz in the kingdom of
love [or love for thee] became a very Solomon, (who used to com-
mand the demons, and birds, and winds). Then in explanation
of his meaning, he adds, " That is, in his union with thee there is
in his hand nothing but wind j" i.e., lie is altogether debarred
from union with thee.
Ghazal IX.
Metre called Bahal.
— v V — v — V — ||
The formal recluse knows nothing of our state ;
Anything which he may say about me is no occasion for
evasion. 1.
In the monastic-rule everything which comes before the travel-
ler is for his good,
In the right path, O heart, no one goes astray. 2.
Suit's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " Zdhir-parast " they say as equivalent to " 'ahli zahir "
[formalists']. " 'Igruh " is here used in the sense of " 'istikrak,"
aversion, but its use is not quite correct since it is transitive [i.e.,
it is nom. verb. iv. conj.]— SUMMAKY OF THE COUPLET: The
formal recluse is not acquainted with our state, whatever he may
say about us is no place for aversion. That is, The " zahidan "
are the contrary and opposite to the " 'arif'an," they are not free
from slanders and accusations behind their backs. So the Poet says,
" whatever they may say about us they are excusable, and we,
looking on what they say as despicable, will not be angry, because
they do not know our state, and if they had known they would
not have so acted.
(2) By " tariqat " is meant " sulook," travelling. *' Oum-
rah" means one losing his way, [egare], for which they say in
Arabic "zall."— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET: In the condition
of travelling everything which comes before the traveller is for
Letter Te. QHAZAL IX. 53
For what play does your Rook appear, I will move a Pawn,
The drunkard's chess-board has no power to play a King. 3.
his good; heart ! no one in the right path ever lost his way. In
a word, when travelling every difficulty which besets the traveller,
when looked on with respect to its issue, is for his good, because
it is to him a discipline and direction which comes from Provi-
dence. This couplet is the cause for a decree [?] for the aban-
doning of aversion, ('udmi 'agrah).
(3) " To," is an exclamation of wonder, equivalent to " 'ay a,"
O wonder ! "Bazi " is a game. Here the mention of " bdzi "
and rukh and baydaq and 'arsah and sliatranj and shall is an
artistic touch worthy of notice. In its technical sense " 'arsah "
means the chess-place, i.e., chess-hoard (bisati shatranj). " Shat-
ranj " had originally its shin with kasra, but commonly it has it
•withfatha. The meaning here of " shah " is check (kasht), which
they say in order to cause the King (shah) to play. Por although
people say "kish!" check! without a final te, still originally it was
with te, as Jami says :
3&-kasht u-kari jahan dil maband, kakhin kar
Zi-kasht mat shavad skah-e 'arsah-e shatranj.
To the toil and moil of earthly life
Bind not the heart, for it is fated,
That the chess-board King in mimic strife
Shall ultimately be checkmated.
Ghanimatast tabi kasht ubadah, garchih zikasht
Miyani 'arsah girizan bavad shah-e shatranj.
A ruddy lip and wine are gain,
Although the chess-king might and main
May fee to save his royal neck,
Whenever he's brought to sudden check.
54 GJIAZAL IX. Letter IV.
What is this lofty roof, bare [yet] with many a picture,
Of this enigma no wise man in the world has knowledge.
[Here there is a play on the double meaning of the word " kasht,"
1st, a red herb resembling a thread, to which the lip is compared,
2nd, check].— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET: Astounding!
('ajba) what game shows its face! Whatever it is (halah), we
wish to advance a pawn, for on the chess battle-field of the drunk-
ards they have no power to say, " Check ! " That is, Sola ! what
form of face does he show ? At any rate being a lover and some-
what burnt we wish to be burnt, because drunken lovers in the
battle-field of love for him have no opportunity for a moment of
union ; for though baked by the fire of love they do not become clean
and pure. Sururi in rendering this hemistich " In order that
what game may appear is it necessary to move a pawn?" has
given no suitable meaning. [N.B. — In Turkish, " to show the
face " means " to appear," both commentators have taken " rukb.
namoodan " in this sense, cf. the expression " rukh 'awardau,"
" to come" or " to turn up," as we say] .
(4) " Saqf" is an Arabic word for platform, roof. " Sddah "
means "bi-naqsh," plain, i.e., without any paintings or marks.
" Bisydr-naqsh" means " pur-naqsh," full of, or, covered with,
paintings. This is an instance of the art of antithesis [vid.
" Tibaq" in Freytag Lex. Arab-Lat.], for they say, "There is a
certain congruity [?] even in incongruity." " Mu'amd " is a word
which may be used in different senses ; as a passive participle it
means obscured, difficult ; as a noun a difficult passage, enigma.
Technically it is used for a difficult passage in a book, but such a
meaning is unsuitable here. "Ddnd" is an adjective [used inde-
pendently], corresponding to Arab. " 'alim," a toise man. — SUM-
MARY OP THE COUPLET: What is this lofty roof full of pic-
Letter Te. GRAZAL IX. 55
Lord ! what a [sign of] self-sufficiency, what a wise dispen-
sation is this !
Viz., that there are all these hidden wounds, and there is no
power to cry " Ah ! " 5 .
tures [and yet] bare ? He says " full of pictures " because it is
indeed studded with stars. He says " bare " because in the day
time the stars are not seen, and it is like a smooth mirror. His
calling it " saqf" roof, is au intimation of its being a plane super-
ficies, according to the tenets of theologians ('ahli shar') ; but
according to the tenets of philosophers and astronomers it is
spherical. No sage in the world has the solution of this enigma;
i.e., concerning the heavens and the stars no one knows the exact
truth. In a word, so many thousand stars have been created that
how can they be worn out, used up, decay or fail. Consequently
God (He is exalted !) alone knows the truth of this enigma.
(5) Some copies [e.g., Calcutta, 182G,] have " 'in chih qadir
hakimaat." "Yd ?*«&" is here in the sense of '"ajba," O wonder !
[compare VII. 1, and contrast VII. 2]. "Kddir" means the
same as "hikmat," so that " qddir hikmat" means decree of (maq-
door) divine wisdom.— SUMMARY 01 THE COUPLET : O won-
der! what self-sufficiency and what a capacity for government is
this ! that there are so many hidden wounds, and [yet] no power
to cry "Ah ! " That is, The Beloved's capacity for governing and
his self-sufficiency are a wonder of ability ; and a [proof of his]
self-sufficiency is it that lovers strike their hearts with many wounds,
and have no power to cry "Ah ! " In a word, Most wise are the
conduct and actions of (waz' wa-harakat) the Uclovcd, for he is
pre-eminently alilc to perform all his affairs.
50 OHAZAL IX. Letter Ti.
You would say that the collector of my rent was no accountant,
For on my lease here he never writes 'Tor the account of
God." 6.
(6) " Sdhib-i-diwdn" is used for the Grand Vizier (Vaziri
Vzam) ; and in Persia the Grand Vizier has obtained the title of
" Mzam-ul-mulk," Administrator of the Kingdom; in Baghdad
his college is called " Nazamiyat." Also in some chronicles his
title of honour (laqab) is Sahib-i-diwan. " Hisdb " is for " hisabi
hashr," the governed noun being omitted. The " kih " of " kdn-
darin " introduces the reason of this want of knowledge.
" Tughrd " is a Persian word, it is the mark which they write on
imperial diplomas and decrees, the corresponding Arabic word is
" tauqi." [This signature of the Grand Seigneur is executed
with all imaginary curves and flourishes of an elaborate caligra-
phy, so that sometimes long curling locks are compared to the
tughra or tdvM\ e.g., Pazli (Gul-u-bulbul X. 4, 5) says :
Her hand in ivild confusion flew
From it poor hearts their life's breath drew ;
Tangled, like some crabbed signature
On charters lohich our weal secure,
Within its folds all hearts it dreio
Captured, like mine, and broken too.]
This is an instance of a part being put for the whole [by the
figure of speech called synecdoche], i.e., the signature, which is
part of the decrees, stands for the whole document, it means in
fact those decrees which the Viziers execute in the Diwans.
Here " tughrd " is mentioned for the sake of introducing the
words il hisbatan Ulldhi" which they write upon the upper margin
of the decrees. In the Ottoman empire we have seen such
imperial decrees signed simply with "hisbatan" with the omission
of the word "Httah." " Nishdn" [which is synonymous with
'abulia! 1 is here used with a sort of double entendre, for there is
Letter Te. GHAZAL IX.
Every one who wishes, tell him " Come;" every one who wishes
tell him " Speak,"
Pride and haughtiness of chamberlain and doorkeeper do not
exist at this court. 7
a saying that "Every tughra and every 'alamat is equally signed
with "Jiisbatan UJlaM," i.e., the form of writing which they inscribe
on the decrees has always the same meaning. — SUMMARY OF
THE COUPLET: You would say our Grand Vizier did not know
reckoning [?] and assembly (hisab u-hashr), i.e., that he did not
acquiesce in the assembly of bodies [?] the reckoning of punish-
ment (hashri 'ajsad wa-hisabi 'azab), because in this signature
(tughra) which he has executed in the decrees there is not the
mark " Jiisbatan littdhi." In a word, his execution of the decrees
is not legal, he does not conform to law and rules. It is evident
that here he refers to some Grand Vizier other than Kawam-ud-
Ein [cf. I. 1].
(7) In both places " gti," say, is a general address. Some
have said that this couplet was spoken concerning Qawan-ud-Din
Hasan when he was second Vizier.— SUMMARY OF THE COUP-
LET: The Second Vizier is not like the Grand Vizier, but to
every one, who wishes to come, say, " let him come ! " and to
every one, who wishes to speak, say, " let him speak ! " The
chamberlain at this door has no self-sufficiency and arrogance
('istighna u-takabbur). Thafris, No one suffers repulse or refusal
(radd u-man'), every one, who icishes, comes, and every one, xolio
wishes, speaks, in this gate no one suffers oppression. They use
both the words " h&jib " and " darbdn " for door-lceeper. They
say that putting two words of the same meaning together [cf. X.
4] in the same verse is a blemish in style. Shem'l and Suriiri did
not understand the meaning of the couplet when they put ivuiv
copulative between " ndz " and " hajib," [and omitted it between
" hajib " and " darbdn," cf. Calcutta, ed. 1826],
H
r>S OIIAZAL IX. Letter Te.
It is entirely the fault of my lanky and ungainly form,
If thy robe of honour be too short for anyone's figure. 8.
The business of going to the door of the wine tavern belongs
to the one-coloured,
Self-sellers have no way to the street of the wine sellers. 9.
(8) Mulla Lari has told a tale, that one day Qawau-ud-Dia
Hasan sent a robe of honour to Hafiz, it proved too short for his
iigure, perhaps he surpassed the mediocre stature of his lordship,
be that as it may, Qawan-ud-Din said to him in joke, " My robe
has grown short," and our author speaks this couplet concerning
his own ungainly form. " Na-sdg " means not good. ' ; Bi-anddm,"
disproportioned. "JBulay" means " qad," stature. — SUMMAEY
OF THE COUPLET: Whatever fault there is proceeds from our
gawky ungainly form, otherwise thy robe of honour would not be
too short for any one's stature. That is, Thy favours are in pro-
portion to the degree of perfection of the recipient, any defect or
deficiency in the gift lies in himself alone.
(9) " YaJi-rang-iln " is the plural of yalcrang, which they use
of a person whose exterior is in conformity with his interior
[liabb. " shet-tocho c'bharo " Y6ma 72 £], i.e., one who is no hy-
pocrite (tnura'). "KKa&farosn&n " is a compound adj. der. from
farushidan, it means self sellers, vauntcrs. — SUMMAEY OF THE
COUPLET: To go to the gate of the wine-tavern is the part of
simple-minded, thoughtless (sadah-dil bi-riya') lovers, to the
hypocritical vauntcrs there is no road to the street of the tavern-
keepers. That is, Foolish enamoured people of sincerity are con-
nected icilh a place, with which hypocritical devotees arid votaries
(zahidan u-'abidan) have no connexion.
Letter Ti. GHAZAL IX.
I am the slave of the old man of the tavern, because his kind-
ness is lasting,
But the kindness of Shaikh and Recluse now is and now is
not. 10.
If Hafiz sit not upon a seat of dignity, it is from his lofty dis-
position ;
A dreg-draining lover is not bound to wealth and position. 1 1.
(10) "Xik" is a causative particle.— SUMMARY OP THE
COUPLET : I am the slave of the old man af the tavern, for his
kindness and his beneficence are enduring, on the other hand the
kindness of Shaikh and devotee now is, and now is not. That is,
The old man of tlis tavern every time that you go to him makes you
a very King of the world with a cup or two of wine, but [Arab.
" 'amma" in explanation of Pers. " var nah"] the kindness and favour
of Shaikh and Devotee are not enduring, but depend upon the divine
trill, if they are favoured \by God~\ then they confer favours, and if
not they do not.
(11) " 'Ar bar sadr nanshtnad" i.e., if he does not accept
the office of a judge or a lecturer or any other learned office, it is
on account of Ids high-mindedness ('ali-himmati). "Durdi-hash"
is a compound adj. meaning drey-drawing, i.e., dreg-drinking.
"Durdiy" having the ye with tashdld, is Arabic, it means the
sediment of the wine. It is used in Persian without the ye, as
Asfi says: — Couplet:
Narekht durdi may va-muhtasib zi-dajr guzasht
Rasidah bood ba-layi wale bakhayr guzasht.
The dregs of ivine he poured not out,
And the police he went away,
lie had arrived a gloomy lout,
But right festive he went away.
GO GHAZAL IX. Letter Te
In this verse [of Haaz] there is a pleasing figure of speech,
" durdt-lzasli'''' is an instance of the containing oeing put for the
contained, for one does not drink dregs, hut that which is upon
the top of them is what is drunk.— SUMMAEY OP TEE COUP-
LET : If Hafiz sit not in a seat of dignity, i.e., if he accept not
any office, it is on account of his high spirit (himrnat-balandi),
because the enamoured wine-bibber is not in the bonds of wealth
or office. Those who [take the first clause literally, and] render
" If Hafiz sit not upon a seat of dignity it is on account of his
high-mindedness ('ali-himmati), have not understood the meaning
of the verse.
Ghazal X.
Metee called Muzaei'.
V — V V V
That letter-bearing courier who came from the country of the
Friend
Brings an amulet from the musky mole of the Friend. 1.
Stall's Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) Some copies [e.g., Calcutta, 1826] have " ndm-var"
renowned. "J?ayk" is what they call in European Turkey
" shatir," a courier. "Ndmah" means a letter (maktoob).
"Ndmah-oar" is a compound adj. meaning letter-carrier, originally
it was " parandah-i-namah." "Kih " binds the qualifying clause
to that which it qualifies [in other words, it is the simple rela-
tive]. " Daydr" is an Arabic word, plur. of ddr, a house, in this
sense [being a broken plur.] it is feminine [in Arabic]. But
sometimes it is used in the sense of " mamlakat," kingdom, dis-
trict, in which case it is an instance of the contained put for the
containing [for the converse cf. ix. 11]. '• Vdward," here the con-
junctive worn must be read with falha, and the 'alif of " 'dtoard"
must be taken with the fatha, as a letter of prolongation [cf. iii.
9], in order that the scansion may be correct. The clause intro-
duced by tvdw is thus joined with the clause " Tcih rasid" and the
second couplet is the predicate to " an payk." [A certain com-
mentator] whether he read wdw or not, certainly took no notice
of its conjunctive meaning, and so missed the sense. " Ilirz" is
equivalent to " ta'wid," an amulet* which they bind on the arms
G2 GRAZAL X. Letter Te.
He gives a joyful sign of the perfection and dignity of the
Friend,
Joyful makes [me] the account of the praise and glory of the
Friend. 2.
and necks of little hoys, i.e., what people call "hama'il" [a small
Koran, used as an amulet], another Arahic synonym is " 'oozat."
Hemistich :
Hirzi janah 'ast natni dilbari ma.
The name of our Beloved is an amulet to the soul.
It means an amulet for [the protection of] the life ; he calls his
Beloved's letter so out of respect. " MushJc-bar" is a compound
adj. meaning musk-raining, der. from "baridan," to rain. The
epithet '• nirnhk-bar" is figuratively applied to " IchaV [mole, or
collyrium-pencilling] on. account of its blackness. — SUMMARY
OF THE COUPLET: That letter-bringing courier, who is arrived
from the country of the Friend, and brought moreover a life-
amulet from the musk-raining mole of the Friend
(2) In some copies the second hemistich occurs thus :
" Ta dar talab shuvad dili 'umedvari dost."
" 'iaz " is the opposite of " zull," meanness. " Waqdr," means
dignity and gravity (hilm u-razanat). — SUMMAEY OF THE
COUPLET: That letter-bringing courrier gives a good sign of the
perfection and glory of the Friend, aud gives a good account of
his grandeur and dignity. That is, He proclaims most excellently
* Cf. Byron, Brick of Abydos, II. v.
Near these with emerald rays beset
(How could she thus that gem forget?)
Her mother's sainted amulet,
Whereon engraved the Koorseo text,
Could smooth this life, and win the next."]
Letter Ti. GILAZAL X. G3
I give him my heart in return for the joyful news, and am
ashamed
At this short-weighted coin which I spent upon the Friend. 3,
Thanks be to God that by the help of dexterous fate
In accordance with [our] wish is every transaction of the
Friend. -1.
the praiseworthy attributes of the Friend. The meaning of the
above-mentioned second hemistich is as follows. He gives a good
report of all the attributes of the Friend, " so that the hopeful
heart may become desirous of the Friend;" i.e., his intention is,
by mentioning the perfection of the attributes of the Friend, to
give lovers a desire and lonmnir for union.
(3) Some copies have " zin naqdi khwesh." The pronom.
sufl'. '"ash" oi/'dddam-ash" refers to "payk" in v. 1. "Muzh-daW*
means yood news, the " la " which is prefixed to this word is a pre-
position. " Khajlat," shame. " iura" means less, or "naqis," deficient
lii Iydr," with its l ayn with Jcasra, is a nomen. actionis from the
mufd'alat [i.e. III.] conjugation [of "'ax" med. wdw] f i.e., mark-
ing zceights and measures ivilh a just standard, we may take " dad,"
just measure, as its equivalent.— SUMMABY OF TEE COUPLET:
To that courrier, who brought good news, I gave [my] heart, the
fact is I am ashamed of the short-weighted coin I devoted to the
Friend.
(4) " Shu7cr-i-Jchudd," these nouns are in construction, with
izdfat between the governing noun and the governed. " Kdr-sdz"
is a compound adj. from " saridan," meaning business-doing [cf.
/xotpa reAeo-i/jopos Aesch. Fr. 511]. "Hasb" is in the sense of
" miqdar," measure ; on account of the exigences of the metre sin
\\\{\\jazm is employed. [Cf. hasab in next verse]. " K&r" means
business, " kdr-u-bdr,'' worlc and labour, this is a case of 'itba',
61 GRAZAL X. Letter Te.
"What free-will is there to the course of the sun and the revolu-
tion of the moon !
In their revolving they are subject to the will of the Friend. 5.
tautology [a case "of schlagen und priigeln! " cf. IX. 7]. — SUM-
MAEY OF THE COUPLET: Thanks be to God that by the help of
a propitious star (tali'i muwafiq) all the business and labour of the
Friend is in accordance with our wishes. That is, JEverg thing
ivliich ive wished with regard to the Friend, Qod (He is exalted ! J
has Drought it to pass.
(5) "Sipihr" is "falak," the heaven. " Gardish" is a nomen
actionis meaning resolution. " Hasab " here has the sin correctly
with fatha. From the collocation of " sayr-i-sipihr " and " daur-
i-qamar it would appear that the course and revolution of the
moon have the same independence as that of the heaven, as
though they were but a section of the course of the heaven. But
such is not the case, for the sphere of the moon is distinct, and it
only appears to be in the same orb as the heaven (falak), for in
reality the moon is fixed in the inner side of this orb, as a nail
might be fixed in the inside of a plank, and that orb [in which it
is fixed] they call falaki tadwir, a revolving orb; consequently the
moon moves by its means, and its motion is not independent. So
be it known that he says " What* free will is there ? " because he
is learned in the tenets of philosophers, for they speak of the
course and revolution of the heavens as being free, and have laid
down as an axiom that its motive power proceeded from its own
* Such interrogations or exclamations are commonly used in most lan-
guages to express strong negations. But since the Tdrikh-i-Bad&iini, as well
ns these odes, is among the subjects for the next Indian Languages Ibipos,
it may be worth while to illustrate the usage from that book, p. G9, 1. 17 — 20.
"What choice (chih Hkhtiyhr!) is there, such and such things are included
among the six necessaries of existence ! "
Letter Te. GBAZAL X. G5
Though the wind of discord bring both worlds into ruin,
Still I and the lamp of my eye will be fixed on the path of the
expected coming of the Friend. G.
nature, and not from anything extraneous to it. — SUMMAEY OF
THE COUPLET: There is not free-will in the actions of the
heavens and stars in their courses and revolution, but their gyra-
tion and revolution is according to the will and desire of the
Friend. That is, Their course and revolution is at the command of
the Friend, and not of their own, will. If by " the Friend " he
means the Creator, the saying is true; if he means his beloved, it
is by way of metaphor, and is an instance of poetic hyperbole.
Sururi and Shem'i, in confounding the meaning of this verse with
the " influence of the stars and heavens," have misrepresented the
meaning of the words.
(G) There is izdfat between " bad" and "fitnaJi." "Baham
zanad" means should throw into utter confusion. "JLl-ii-chiragh,'"
this use of "«" has been explained above [III. 3, IV. ]].
" Chirdgli " means literally fire burning in the tcich of a wax
candle. " y lntizdr" is equivalent to " nazr," looking for ; people
use it in the sense of waiting for. The expression "rah-i-'intizdr"
the path of expectation, is metaphorical. — SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET : If the wind of discord casting the two worlds one on
the other were to make utter confusion, we with the lamp of the
eye [would be] in the path of expectation of the Friend. (Cf.
Hor. Carm. III. 3. Si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient
ruinoe. Cf. also Ps. xlvi. 1 — 3). That is, If discord and terror
were to encompass the whole world, ice would not remove our eye
from waiting for the Friend. [A certain commentator] has erred
in supposing that by " chirdgh-i-chashm u he meant metaphorically
to imply God. *
J
G6 GRAZAL X. Letter Te.
morning breeze, bring me some pearl-collyrium
From that dust which has been so fortunate as to have been
trodden upon by the Friend. 7.
1 and the threshold of the Beloved and the head of prayer [are
always companions],
[Saying] "Who may enjoy sweet sleep in the arms of the
Friend ? 8.
(7) " Kohl-ul-jaivahr" is a kind of collyrium (surmah). He
gives "khak" dust, the epithet "nik-bdkht," fortunate, because of
its having been trampled on (paymal) by the friend. "Ra-guztr"
passage, i.e., a place where one can pass. — SUMMAEY OP THE
OOUPLET: morning breeze bring me some pearl-collyrium from
the happy dust which has been the passing-place of the Friend.
That is, Let us make unto collyrium (tootiya) for our eyes some of
the dust which has gained happiness and felicity from being trampled
upon by the Friend.
(8) Again the Wdws require no further explanation [see III.
3, IV. 1]. There is iz&fat between " sor " and " niydz." "Niydz "
lit. means making "known a need ('arzi 'ihtiyaj). "Khwab" here
means a dream. "Kandr," side, i.e., Arab. " 'and."— SUMMAEY
OP THE COUPLET: We and making- wants-known are at the
threshold of the Friend, ah ! ['ajba ! for this meaning of " td " cf.
IX. 3.] to whom has been accorded a sweet dream by the side of
the Friend ? Tbat is, We at the threshold of the Friend are con-
stant attendants in prayer, with sincere hearts and unsullied faith,
oh ! ('aya !) who, sleeping by the side of (hamkhwab) the Friend,
may have the happiness (in Persian " nasib shuvad ") to enjoy a
sweet dream ?
Letter Te. GIIAZAL X. G7
Though an enemy speak against Hafiz, what is there to fear ?
Thanks be to God that I [for my part] am not ashamed of the
Friend. 9.
(9) " Dam zadan," lit "nafas zadan," to draw a Ireath, i.e.,
to speak (takallum-kardan).— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET:
If an enemy say anything toward [i.e., concerning'] Hafiz, what
fear ! He means to say it matters not. Thanks be to God that
1 am not ashamed of the Friend. That is, Since I am acceptable
to the Friend, let an enemy say tvhat lie will ! [Turkish] Couplet :
'Agar yarain benimileh yar olurseh
Neh ghami 'alam qamoo 'aghyar olurseh.
If my dear Friend be only friends with me
What earthly pain can all my rivals be ?
Shem% saying that Friend in this Ghazal means God, knew not
God, [An incisive manner of stigmatizing mystical interpreta-
tion !]
Ghazal XL
Metre called Bamal.
"Welcome ! O messenger of the anxious ones, give me news of
the Friend,
That I may freely offer my life in devotion to the name of the
Friend. 1.
Like a nightingale in a cage, continually mad and distracted,
Is the Parrot of my nature out of longing for the sugar and
almonds of the Friend. 2.
SucWs Commentary, translated from the Tar7cisJi.
(1) '• Payk-i-,mushtdqdn" messenger of the anxious, means
the Zephyr, or else the Courier of the Beloved. "Raghbat" is equi-
valent to " mayl," inclination. "Fidd-e-ndm-i " is an instance of
the second of two nouns in construction itself having izdfat [cf.
I. 1].— SUMMAEY Or THE COUPLET: messenger of anxious
lovers welcome ! give news of the Friend, that I may willingly
devote my soul to the name of the Friend. That is, Rleesed is he
who proclaims his name, nolens volens may I devote heart and soul
to his noble name.
(2) "Vdlih" means " hayran," distracted. "Shaydd" is
" divauah, mad. " Qofs" is properly spelt with the letter sad, but
in Persian they write it •with sin or sad; " qafas" is that which
confine* a bird [a cage]. " Shakkar," sugar, is used metaphori-
cally fur the Up and mouth. "Baddm" almond, means the eye, the
Letter Te. GIIAZAL XL G9
Her locks are a net, and her mole the grain of that net, and I
In hoping for the grain am fallen into the net of the Friend. 3.
He will never lift up his head from drunkenness until the dawn
of the Judgment-day,
Whoso ere-Time-was has, as I, taken a sip from the beaker of
the Friend. 1.
poets compare the eye to an almond. —SUMMAEY OP THE COUP-
LET: Like a Bulbul in a cage, the parrot of my nature is con-
tinually mad and distracted for the sugar and almonds of the
Friend, i.e., for the lip and mouth and eyes of the Friend.
Because sugar and almonds are the food of parrots, therefore he
mentions them in connection with one another. In this couplet
the first and second hemistiches are very closely connected.
(3) The word " man " L is to be taken in close connection
with the second hemistich.— SUMMAEY OF THE COUPLET: The
locks of that Beloved are a net, and his mole is the grain of the
net, through hope of a single grain I am fallen into the Friend's
net.
(4) "J3ar nagirad," will not lift up. "Td " is used for the
ssake of limitation. "Subh " is connected with " rCz" and " ruz "
with " liashr " by izufat. " Jur'ah " is the sherbet or wine which
remains in the bottom of a cup or other vessel after drinking. —
SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET : He will not lift up his head from
drunkenness until the morn of the day of judgment, who, as I
have, has in eternity drunk one draught from the goblet of the
Friend. That is LLe, whose essence lias in eternity been intoxicated
with the u-iiie of love and affection, icill until the morn of the day
of judgment be drunk with the wine of love.
i
70 GHAZAL JFJ. Letter Te.
I never breathed a word in explanation of any longing for her,
It would have given her a head-ache to have ere this impor-
tuned the Friend. 5.
My inclination is for union, hers tend to separation,
My desire I have renounced, in order that may be fulfilled the
desire of the Friend. G.
(5) " Shammah " properly means scent, but here it means a
little [in meaning Ilebr. " shemets," Job xxvi. 14, though etymo-
lo"-ically of course it is equivalent to Hebr. " sammim," Ex. xxv.
61. " 'Tbrdm " properly means Jirmwre [N. verbi IV. a " bara-.
ma,"] but here it means " taklif," importunity.— SUMMAKY OF
THE COUPLET : I myself have spoken no inkling of explanation
of any desire, because henceforth [Pers. " posh az in " means (1)
henceforth, (2) heretofore, the latter is the meaning here, Sudi
has missed it, for Turk, "skimdan guiru" can only mean "hence-
forth,"] importunity would give the Friend a headache. That is,
To evince love is sufficient ; urging and importunity are not effi-
cacious in the case of desire and longing for the Beloved, for by
such actions the race of mistresses is exceedingly disturbed (mu-
ta'aththir). In a word, In expressing desire and longing somehow
or other it hecomes necessary to express admiration, in such matters
as a rule from whomsoever it may proceed, but especially in the case
of its being addressed by a lover to his mistress, it seems cold and
formal.
(G) "T&" denotes in order that.— SUMMARY OF THE COUP-
LET: My inclination is towards union with the Beloved, and the
penchant of the Beloved is for separation, so I renounce my own
will, that the will of the Beloved may be fulfilled. That is, Since
separation and departure arc his intention, I willingly accept Ms
view.
Letter Te. GLLAZAL XL. 71
If it come to hand, I rub oil my eye, as though it were colly -
rium,
The dust of that path which has been honoured by the feet of
the Friend. 7.
Hafiz burns in sorrow on her account, (and be content, to lack
the cure !)
For there is no cure for the restless sorrow caused by the
Friend. 8.
(7) "Tutiya" a medicament for the eye. "Qadam " is lit. the
sole of the feet, but people use it for the foot.— SUMMAEY OP THE
COUPLET : If it present itself to me, I will bring to my eye, as
though it were tutty, the dust of the path which has been
honoured by the footsteps of the Friend. That is, The dust of
the foot of the Friend, if the opportunity should offer itself, L ivould
bring, like collyrium, to my eye.
(8) As here, " bisaz " sometimes means be contented and
satisfied (qani' u-razi). In " darmdnl " the final ye denotes either
unity or indefiniteness. "Lli-drdm" not still for a moment, rest-
less.— SUMMAEY OP THE COUPLET : O Hafiz burn and blaze in
pain and grief for the Friend, and be satisfied and contented with
the want of a cure, for there is no cure for the restless sorrow
for the Friend.
4
Ghazal XII.
Metre called Mujtatiith.
Zephyr, if thou should'st cliance to pass through the country
of the Friend,
Oh ! waft a scent from the amhrosial locks of the Friend. 1.
SudVs Commentary, translated from the Turkish.
(1) " Saba" [put figuratively for] " munadi," herald. The
final ye of " guzarl " denotes either unity or indefiniteness. The
final ie of " \ftadat " is the pronom. suff. 2nd pers. sing. "Kish-
war" means clime or district ('iqlim u-mamlakat). The hamza
[Sudi calls it "yd"] of " nafhah-e" denotes unity. " Gisu," a
lock of hair [cf. VII. 2]. "Mu'ambar" 'is a passive partic. derived
from the substantive " 'ambar," ambergris, but no perfect, imper-
fect, &c, derived from it are in use. [So in English we have
subst. '• talent," pass, particip. " talented," but no verb " to
talent."]— SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET : O Zephyr, if to the
country of the Friend thy passage should fall (i.e., if thou
shouldest come), bring just one whiff of scent from the ambergris-
diffusing locks of the Friend. He addresses the Zephyr, because,
since it is the breeze that diffuses scents, if it were not to make
that motion it would not suffuse the palate of the Beloved with
the scent of his locks.
Letter Te. GHAZAL XII. 73
By her life ! out of gratitude would I cast away my life,
If thou shouldest bring my way a message from the Friend, 2.
And if thou shouldest fail to gain such access to her august
presence,
Then bring for the eye some dust from the door of the Friend. 3.
(2) The " ba " of " bajdn " denotes swearing by [cf. I. 1.]
" Ba-shukranah" in gratitude, or out of gratitude. The " bar " of
" bar- afslianam " is a preposition in composition with the verb.
" ''Afslianam " is a verb, aorist, 1st pers. sing. " *Az bar" bar
means side, Arab, <"ind" [cf. Kandr XI. 8].— SUMMARY OP
THE COUPLET : By the soul of the Friend [I sware] that in
gratitude, (or out of gratitude), I will make my soul an offering,
if from the side of the Friend thou wilt bring to my side
[explaining " soo " by "taraf "] some news. The first three coup-
lets are uninterruptedly addressed to the Zephyr.
(3) " Va " is a copulative conjunction. " Gar " is equivalent
to " 'agar," if. "Chundn Jcih" means to such an extent as to. [A
certain commentator] has erred in explaining the expression as
meaning " in the same manner as." "' Dar an," dar is here equi-
valent to the preposition " ba." " Hazratat," liazrat means pre-
sence or court (hauli) ; the final " at " is the pronom. suff. 2nd
pers. "Bad" here means " 'ijazat" permission, the entree, as in
the following verse :
Tu dadah bad bar khasi
Man murdah 'az ghayrati basi
Takbur mirad bar kasi
Bi-charah Jami barha.
Thou hast access to every ill,
I to all jealousies that kill ;
For man 'tis fated once to die,
O -what a hapless man am I. — J ami.
I
74 GRAZAL XII. Letter T$.
I the beggar dare not hope for union with her,
Perchance in sleep I may see the phantom of the countenance
of the Friend. 4.
Obs. "bad" is here equivalent to '"ijazat. "Bardyi did ah," for the
sake of the eye, " bardyi " is a causal particle. — SUMMAKY OP
THE COUPLET: And if to such a degree thou have not access to
the side (or court) of the Friend, bring for the eye, as though it
were tutty, some dust from the Friend's door.
(4) "Gadd," "beggar, is to be joined with "wan," I. "Tamari-
nd" [nom. verb. V. conj. from " rnana"] verba tertise rad. ye in
the " tafa'al " and " tafa"ul " forms [i.e., nom. verb. V. et VI.]
takefatha [instead of zamma] with the second root letter, on
account of the change of the final root letter into elif e.g., " ta-
manna. hope, " taqara," exaction [nom. verb. VI. conj from
"qara,"] &c. [N.B. — " tamanna " and " taqaza " are for " taman-
ni " and " taqazi, the non-nunated form of the pure Arabic forms
"tamannin" and "taqazin."] " Tamanna " is equivalent to
"'arzoo," desire, hope. ''Ilayhdt " was originally with fatha [i.e.,
Hdyahdta~\, but sometimes it is read with jazm. [" Sunt vero 51
diversi vocum enunciandarum modi." Freytag Lex. Arab.-Lat.],
it means avaunt ! Sururi, in explaining it to mean " muyassar
nisht," is not attainable, spoke wide of the mark. " Khicab " here
means a dream. " Mauzar," as here, sometimes means face,
because that is the part of people which is exposed to view* (nazr);
so that "mauzar" does not here [as it does in II. 1] denote,
* Not only is the face in general most conspicuous, but the nose in par-
ticular is the most prominent, and, as the Jews consider, the most character-
istic feature of the face. In accordance with thin opinion they have a peculiar
enactment with regard to the laws of evidence, viz., 'dynme'ldtn 'alhap-pdnhn
WW 'wra kin kliotmo bho, i.e., Evidence with regard to identification of a
man's features is not received unbss the nose remains on hia face.
Letter Te. GHAZAL XII.
This my pining heart trembles like an aspen,
Out of longing for the pine-like figure and stature of the
Friend.
independently of all metaphor, a place to hole from (nazr-gah). —
—SUMMARY OF THE COUPLET : I-a-beggar-and-poor and
desire-and-hope-for-union-with-him are far apart; i.e., there is no
connection between [me and] them. But perhaps in a dream I may
see a phantom of his face. That is, To hope for union is altogether
for beyond me, Jet tne hope to see a phantom of his face in a dream,
far visions are seen in dreams, and that is a thing -which may happen
to any one.
(5) The ye in " sanaubariyan " denotes relationship. "Dil "
hear means heart, which they are accustomed to compare to a
pine-cone. "Bed" is an aspen tree . "Larzdn" is a predicate,
which carries on the comparison. They apply the trembling of
the aspeo, whose leaves tremble, not the tree itself, metaphori-
cally to fear of heart. " Qad u bald " is a case of two synonomous
[cf. IX. 7, X. 4] words being coupled together, they mean stature
and height. Sururi and 8hem c i have made a mistake both in the
compound and its meaning, in reading " qad-i-bdld" and render-
ing "high stature," taking "bdld" as = adj. Inland. "Sanau-
bar " this time the word means the pine-tree itself, for it is a kind
of pine-tree to which they compare the stature of beloved-ones. —
—SUMMARY OP THE COUPLET: This my pine-cone-like heart
is trembling like an aspen, out of longing for the pine-like stature
and height of the Friend. That i3, Racing called to mind the
symmetrical pine-like figure of the Friend, my heart trembles, like
an aspen, out of longing for him.
1
7G GHAZAL XII. Letter Te.
Though the Friend will not buy us at any price,
Tet will we not sell for the whole world a single hair from the
head of the Friend. 6.
AVhat would Hafiz gain, though his heart were freed rom the
bond of sorrow,
Since poor fellow he is the slave and servant of the Friend. 7.
((3) The final ye off'baeMzi denotes unity or indefiniteness.
" Nami kharad" (from kharidan), will not buy. The ye of "ba-
'dlami " expresses indefiniteness, "JVafroshem " is the negative
future. The final ye of " mo'i " expresses unity. — SUMMAKY 01
THE COUPLET: Although the Friend will not take us at any
price, yet we will not sell for a whole world one single hair from
the head of the Friend. That is, Though the Friend ivill not buy us
at any price, we loould not sell a single hair of his for a ichole world.
(7) " Chih bdshad" means what icould be? i.e., what would
be the necessary result ? " Ar " is contracted from " 'agar," if.
The pronom. suff. "ash" of " dil-ash" refers to Hafiz in the
second hemistich, the pronoun occurring before the mention of
the noun to which it refers [cf. VII. 8]. " Ghuldm " and " chd-
Icar" which occur together here, are synonomous words for slave.
— SUMMAKY OP THE COUPLET: What would be? (i.e., what
would necessarily result ? Pers. chih luzim gashad), if his heart
were to become free and liberated (fiirigh) from the bound of
grief, since poor Hafiz is thy slave and servitor. That is, To be of
the number of thy special slaves is not necessarily a bond of grief iu
his heart, because thou art of such a noble disposition that thy slaves
necessarily obey thee. In a word, In order not to experience grief,
it is only necessary not to be of the number of the slaves of any other
than thee.
A FEW SUGGESTIONS WITH REOA.TID TO THE INTERPRETATION' OP
CERTAIN" PASSAGES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
S. Mat. vi. 31.
Our Lord's saying as reported viz., " Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof," has often been objected to as being of a
cynical character. But "without doubt his original words were
different. In Talm. Babl. Berach. 9b, we find in reference to Ex.
iii. 14: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, Go tell
Israel, I have been with you in this servitude [viz., under the
Egyptians], and I will be ('elii/eli) with you in the servitude to
the kingdoms [i.e., in future " captivities"]; Moses said, O Lord
of the Uuiverse, dayydh. iHsdrah b e sJia'tdh, i.e., It is sufficient with
respect to trouble [viz., that one should be affected by it] in its
hour [ie., when it comes]. Meaning, "Do not meet troubles
half-way," This doubtless was our Lord's saying. Unfortunately
when a saying is not given in its original language, it is impossible
to decide with any degree of certainty on the exact manner in
which it became corrupted. But at any rate b e sJta'tdh, " in its
hour," would be easily corrupted into " blslildh" " its evil," by
the dropping-out of the letter 'ayin, as possibly in dats for d c: a/s,
haidnd for luVl 'idddnd, and even in the very word shd'd, TiasTitd
lor lid slicCtd; but certainly msliutlid for sluV a thd, toond for too i "mi,
mabb e rd for ma 1 b e rd,zcrd for z e 'crd, &c. Thus the expression becomes,
" Sufficient unto trouble is the evil thereof;" but in this form the
whole point of the saying is lost, hence the necessity for substi-
tuting the word "day" for "trouble." Or it is possible that
there may have been a variation of the saying of the formDayvdh
la'",itti-<'ih [i.e., PrailMha, llebr. l'dabar, Arab, li'amr, Gr. /n^ucm]
i.
i
78
b'sha'tdh." i.e., It is sufficient to be concerned about a matter
[»vhether good or bad] when it happens. If this were the saying
it is easy to see that, when frsha'tdh, "in its hour," had been cor-
rupted into blshtdh, '• the evil thereof," la a mirdh, " with respect
to a matter," might be read l e 'imird, i.e., rrj fjp.epa cf. Talm. Jer.
Avod. Zar. cap. 1. Or lastly, without supposing any intermediate
corruption of the words, the Greek apxerov rrj rip-tpa r) Ka/a'a aiVr/s
may be simply a free, and to those who do not know tbe original
expression, a misleading paraphrase of the words " Dayya/z
rHsarah b e shatiU,"' which are certainly those which were used by
our Lord.
1 Coil. xvi. 22.
"While speaking of the corruption of Hebrew words in the
Greek Test, I may mention (in the name of Dr. Schiller-Szinessy,
who suggested to me the following explanation), that r]™ dvd$€jxa
/j,apavaOd, (1 Cor. xvi. 22), probably means y c qullal b e qil e lath
vnukhrdm attdh," i.e., let him be cursed with the well-known for-
mula of excommunication (niddui) which runs " vnukhrdm
cttt&h, 'aroor attah b'ka 'aiah, b'kah sh c voo'ah, b'ka, niddui," cf.
Maimonides Hil 8 k6th Talmud-Torah, chap. vii. Muhhrdm attah
" thou art put under ban," would easily be corrupted into
m&rdn athd, as follows. Mukhrdm might be pronounced molchrdm,
then I'h would be pronounced //, and it beiug impossible to express
that letter in the middle of a word in the Greek character, the
word would become mordm. (Indeed, even at the beginning of a
word the Greek often gives no representation of the Jch, e.y.,
'Ayycu'os for Khagcjaij). Then mordm might be changed to rndrdm
or mordm, since in Hebrew, as well as in Syriac, d is often sounded
as 6. The corruption of final m into n would be easy. Or we
may suppose it to have been an emendation on the part of some
ouc who wished to make an intelligible word out of rndrdm. And
70
so far 'attdh, since the letters would be unpointed, and Tav is
represented in Greek by 9, 'athd or 'ethu, "is come," Vithe or 'othe
"is coming," would all be possible pronunciations of the word.
S. Mat. ii. 13—15.
This passage belongs to quite a different class of N. T.
Hebraisms. Every one who has only dipped into Jewish Litera-
ture must know of what common occurrence is the figure of
speech called 'al tiqri, i.e., " do not read" so and so, but so and
so. It does not however, as might be supposed, refer to a var.lect.,
but is used simply for the sake of making a word or expression suit
the exigencies of the case in point at the moment. IS~ow there are
very strong objections to the usual interpretation of S. Matt. iii.
13 — 15, which cause one to seek for something more suitable. (1)
It is extremely strange that Christ should be obliged to go down to
Egypt in order [or, so as] to fulfil [by being called back from
there] words which say "From Egypt have I called my Son."
(2) There is an objection which ought to have shown long ago
that the words could never have been fulfilled except indeed
before they were uttered, and that is that they clearly (in IIos.
xi. 1) refer to a past event, and have not the slightest pretence to
being predictory. Moreover, it may be as well to remark that if
we apply these words to Christ, in any way than as a mere d c rasli,
we must also, to be consistent, follow up the passage and say of
Him " that he kept on sacrificing to Baalim, and offering incense
to idols." [!]
In the Mechilta, the oldest systematic commentary on Exodus,
and one, too, of Palestinian origin, we find ou chap. xiv. 25, the
following play on the word mim-Mitsraim, "from Egypt," " read
not from Egypt, but (in a wider sense) 'from troublers,' i.e., not
from Egypt only, but from all those who should trouble Israel at any
time during their national existence." Why not apply this V
i
so
tiqri to S. Matt. ii. 11, which was in all probability written origi-
nally in some dialect of Hebrew ? The passage would then run
run tbus: "He went into Egypt... in order to fulfil [I'MthqayySm
or l e qayyern] what is written \_mah shennewiar], ' mmzrtm hdrdtM
Yi-l) e nll read not Mhi-MizRaxiM, 'from Egypt,' but (in a wider sense)
'from troublers,' i.e., from Herod and from all who were troubling
Him. And tbat S. Matt, does indulge in playing upon words, in
some such manner as this, is evident from ii. 23, wbere he states
that it is prophesied that Christ should be called a Nazarene,
with apparently no other (verbal) ground to stand upon than that
in Is. xi. 1, it is said, " And there shall come forth a twig out of
Jesse, and a shoot (nezer) from its roots shall bring forth fruit."
Such interpretations as these may be contrary to the pre-
conceived notions of inspiration held by some, and seem to them
to be subversive of the faith. To myself on the contrary it seems
a most fortunate thing that S. Matthew did actually write, as
might have been expected of a man of his country and age. Why
should we expect anachronisms of style in writings which we hold
to be "inspired"? For in the first place we have only the vaguest
notions of what we mean by the word "inspiration"; and,
secondly, whatever be its meaning, the advantages of the gift to
any of the persons concerned in it, would be, to say the least of
it, doubtful, if it made the writings of the inspired person unin-
telligible to his cotemporaries, and suspected of not being genuine
by succeeding generations. If anything I have written should
appear objectionable to any of greater age and experience than
myself, let it all be taken merely l c pM ia niij>/ooth da'ti (i.e., as a
humble expression of opinion), for it is written (Lev. xix. 32),
" Mip-pcm-y seyvah takoom, v c hadarta p°ncy *.aqeo," Iriomer,
da'ath col sey vah t f kabbt-d, v e ta'am col zaqen t c qabbel b c shiph c looth
rooakh, ki 'aph 'al pi she 'ephshar she-16 hirbah Torah, mihoo'
dq&is zeh sheq-QaNah khokmah boo'.
University of Toronto
Library
TVNews
OpenLibrary