Quatrain 3

RubāʿīIraqi style
English

Quatrain 3

Your eyes are drowsy with sleep and drunk with wine; the discerning ones thirst for you, but your embrace is only a mirage. Someone as lovely as you, anywhere in this whole world, could only ever be seen in a mirror or in water.
Explanation: The mirror and water suggest that your beauty has no equal in reality, only a reflection could match it. 'Abad o kharab' (in flourishing and in ruin) means simply 'anywhere at all'.

Original · Persian

رباعی شمارهٔ ۳

ای چشم تو مست خواب و سرمست شراب! صاحب‌نظران تشنه و وصل تو سراب
مانند تو آدمی در آباد و خراب باشد که در آیینه، توان دید و در آب