The Longing of Hearts

GhazalIraqi style
English

The Longing of Hearts

Your face is what every heart desires; the joy of your sorrow lies upon every heart. The ring of your hair is forever tangled by the chatter of hearts. Beside the stream of your love, your hard heart has shattered the pitchers of hearts. Into the curling coils of your dark hair, fate has tossed the hearts like a ball. What is this plunder your hair commits, locking hearts up in their searching? One could follow you a thousand miles, guided only by the scent that hearts pursue. Since it keeps company with your tiny mouth, the temper of these hearts has grown so cramped and narrow.
Explanation: The beloved's tiny mouth is a classic Persian ideal of beauty; the poem plays on 'tang' (narrow/cramped) to link the small mouth with hearts made anxious and constricted.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۲

ای روی تو آرزوی دل‌ها شادیّ غمت به روی دل‌ها
ای حلقۀ زلف تو همیشه آشفته ز گفت‌وگوی دل‌ها
بشکسته به جویبار عشقت سنگین دل تو سبوی دل‌ها
در انگله‌های زلف مشکینت افکند زمانه گوی دل‌ها
غارتگر زلف تو میان چیست در بسته به جست‌وجوی دل‌ها
پی در پیِ تو هزار فرسنگ بتوان آمد به بوی دل‌ها
تا با دهن تو می‌نشیند بس تنگ شدست خوی دل‌ها