Ghazal · 11th–12th century

May It Always Be So

Sanaiسنایی

معشوق به سامان شد تا باد چنین باد

The beloved has come round: may it always be so!

کفرش همه ایمان شد تا باد چنین باد

That unbelief has all turned to faith: may it always be so!

زان لب که همی زهر فشاندی به تکبر

Those lips that scattered poison in their pride

اکنون شکر افشان شد تا باد چنین باد

now scatter sugar: may it always be so!

آن غمزه که بد بودی با مدعی سست

That glance, once cruel to the rival, but feebly,

امروز بتر زان شد تا باد چنین باد

today has grown crueller still: may it always be so!

آن رخ که شکر بود نهانش به لطافت

That face whose sugar lay hidden in its grace

اکنون شکرستان شد تا باد چنین باد

has now become a land of sugar: may it always be so!

حاسد که چو دامنش ببوسید همی پای

The envious one, who kissed those feet as the hem of a robe does,

بی سر چو گریبان شد تا باد چنین باد

is now as headless as a collar: may it always be so!

نعلی که بینداخت همی مرکبش از پای

The horseshoe that the beloved’s horse would cast from its hoof

تاج سر سلطان شد تا باد چنین باد

has become a crown on the sultan’s head: may it always be so!

پیداش جفا بودی و پنهانش لطافت

Outwardly there was cruelty, and inwardly kindness;

پیداش چو پنهان شد تا باد چنین باد

now the outward has become like the inward: may it always be so!

چون گل همه تن بودی تا بود چنین بود

Like the rose, it was all body, as long as it was so;

چون باده همه جان شد تا باد چنین باد

like wine, it has become all soul: may it always be so!

From: The Divan of Sanai
Translation: Persiahaus Editors
Source: Draft translation from the Ganjoor text
Persian text: Ganjoor

A note for readers

A ghazal of celebration built on a refrain, tā bād chonin bād, ‘may it always be so’, that returns at the end of every couplet. The cruel beloved has turned kind, and every image of the poem turns over with it, from poison to sugar and from body to soul. The excerpt gives the first eight of its ten couplets; in the last, the poet names himself.