Quatrain 16

RubāʿīIraqi style
English

Quatrain 16

That lock of hair resting on the collar's edge branded a hundred wounds of cruelty on the hearts of lovers. When the moon saw the arch of her brow above her face, it set its own beauty aside and gave up the claim.
Explanation: The final line plays on the phrase 'putting something on the shelf' (bar taq nahadan), meaning to abandon or renounce; the moon concedes it cannot match her beauty.

Original · Persian

رباعی شمارهٔ ۱۶

آن زلف که بر گوشهٔ غلطاق نهاد صد داغ جفا بر دل عشاق نهاد
بر چهرهٔ او چو طاق ابرویش دید مه خوبی روی خویش بر طاق نهاد