Ghazal · 14th centuryDraft

Last Night in a Dream

Khwaju Kermaniخواجوی کرمانی

رفت دوشم نفسی دیدهٔ گریان در خواب

Last night my weeping eye went for a moment into sleep,

دیدم آن نرگس پرفتنهٔ فتان در خواب

and in a dream I saw that narcissus full of mischief.

خیمه برصحن چمن زن که کنون در بستان

Pitch your tent on the meadow’s floor, for now in the garden

نتوان رفت ز بوی گل و ریحان در خواب

no one can fall asleep for the scent of roses and basil.

بود آیا که شود بخت من خسته بلند

Will it ever be that my weary fortune rises high,

کایدم قامت آن سرو خرامان درخواب

so that the form of that swaying cypress comes to me in a dream?

ای خوشا با تو صبوحی و ز جام سحری

How sweet, a morning cup with you, and wine at dawn,

پاسبان بیخبر افتاده و دربان در خواب

the watchman lying senseless and the doorkeeper asleep.

فتنه برخاسته و باده پرستان در شور

Mischief has risen, and the wine-worshippers are in uproar;

شمع بنشسته و چشم خوش مستان درخواب

the candle has sunk down, and the fine eyes of the drunk are asleep.

آیدم زلف تو درخواب و پریشانم ازین

Your tresses come to me in a dream, and I am troubled by it,

که بود شور و بلا دیدن ثعبان درخواب

for to see a serpent in a dream means turmoil and misfortune.

صبر ایوب بباید که شبی دست دهد

It would take the patience of Job for a night to come

که رود چشمم از اندیشهٔ کرمان در خواب

when my eyes could sleep despite my thoughts of Kerman.

From: The Divan of Khwaju
Translation: Persiahaus Editors [Draft translation]
Source: New translation

A note for readers

A ghazal on the refrain dar khvab, ‘in sleep’ or ‘in a dream’. The narcissus is the beloved’s eye, and her tresses are compared to a serpent, which in a dream was held to foretell trouble. In the seventh couplet the poet’s longing for his native Kerman breaks in; the ghazal continues for two more couplets, not given here.