Number 20

RubāʿīLiterary Return
English

Number 20

For a lifetime my days have been dark; what can I do? I have fallen from the eye of esteem; what can I do? If in this hard moment my hand has reached for my own collar in grief, no wonder: the hem of my beloved's robe has slipped from my grasp; what can I do?
Explanation: Clutching one's own collar is a Persian gesture of helpless grief. Holding the beloved's hem means clinging to their support, now lost.

Original · Persian

شمارهٔ ۲۰

عمریست که تیره روزگارم چکنم افتاده ز چشم اعتبارم چه کنم
گر وقت گریبان شده دستم چه عجب رفته است ز کف دامن یارم چه کنم