Number 3

GhazalLiterary Return
English

Number 3

I saw it moving down a road with flirtation and grace: a sun that lights up the world, a moon that sets the horizons ablaze. I keep my eyes hopeful on my love, yet I am content with a single glance, and even that, only now and then. My darling, you could settle the affairs of the whole world if you would just cast one look from your half-drunk eyes. Your eyes, with the arrows of your lashes, have plundered my soul; you intoxicating beauty, what more do you want from me? The poetry of Ishraq has spread from India to Khorasan, just as the beauty of that face reaches from the heights to the depths.
Explanation: The phrase 'from the moon to the fish' is a classical idiom meaning everywhere, from the highest to the lowest point; here rendered as 'from the heights to the depths.' Ishraq is the poet's pen name.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۳

دیدم به عشوه و ناز جولان کنان به راهی عالم فروز مهری آفاق سوز ماهی
چشم امید از یار دارم و لیک هستم قانع به یک نگاهی آنهم به گاه گاهی
کار تمام عالم خواهی بساخت جانا از چشم نیم مستت گر افکنی نگاهی
چشمت ز تیر مژگان جانرا نموده غارت ای ترک مست جانان از ما دگر چه خواهی
بگرفته شعر اشراق از هند تا خراسان چونان که حسن رویش از ماه تا بماهی