Time Gave Me Advice
Rudakiرودکی
زمانه، پندی آزادوار داد مرا
Time gave me a piece of advice fit for the free;
زمانه، چون نگری، سربه سر همه پندست
Time, if you look closely, is advice from end to end.
به روز نیک کسان، گفت: تا تو غم نخوری
It said: ‘Do not grieve at the good fortune of others:
بسا کسا! که به روز تو آرزومندست
how many there are who long for the day you have!’
زمانه گفت مرا: خشم خویش دار نگاه
Time said to me: ‘Keep your anger in check:
کرا زبان نه به بندست پای دربندست
whoever’s tongue is not bound, his foot is in chains.’
A note for readers
A short poem, or qit'a, of three couplets in which Time itself speaks as a teacher. Its plain, proverbial wisdom is typical of the poetry that survives from Rudaki, much of it as fragments quoted in later dictionaries and anthologies.
More poemsشعرهای دیگر
یک عمر می‌توان سخن از زلف یار گفت
در بند آن مباش که مضمون نمانده است
One could speak for a lifetime of the beloved’s tresses;
do not fret that there are no themes left.
A Lifetime on the Beloved’s Tresses
بلبلی برگ گلی خوش رنگ در منقار داشت
و اندر آن برگ و نوا خوش ناله‌های زار داشت
A nightingale held in its beak a rose petal of lovely colour,
and with that petal and its song it made sweet, piteous laments.
A nightingale held a rose petal
ستاره ای بدرخشید و ماه مجلس شد
دل رمیده ما را رفیق و مونس شد
A star shone out and became the moon of the gathering,
became friend and companion to our startled heart.