| ایوان | palace; hall; veranda; portico |
مدائن = المدائن = تیسفون | Ctesiphon, ancient Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian capital, located on the Tigris river in Mesopotamia in what is now Iraq. All that remains is the arched Ayvān structure, known as the Tāq-e Kasrā, Arch of Khosraw. |
هان | Beware! Take heed! |
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دان < دانستن | (You) know! (You) Consider (imperative) < to know, to consider |
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آیینه = آئینه | mirror; also the name of a genre of "advice literature", usually for princes. (This word may be spelled either with the "hamza + ye" or with "ye + ye", both are correct.) |
از دیده عبر کن | /az dide, `ebar kon/: learn from the seen, learn from the eye, learn from what you have observed with your eye! |
عبرت | lesson, life lesson, warning |
عبرت‌بین | one who sees/understands the lesson to be learned in the given example, one who heeds the warning |
دیده | eye; seen, that which has been observed |
عبر کن < عبر کردن = عبرت گرفتن = پند گرفتن | learn a lesson, take a warning < to learn a lesson for life |
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دجله | Tigris river, pronunciation: dajle |
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ره = راه | road, way, path, walk. /rah/ is a poetic short form of /rāh/ |
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ز = از | from. /ze/ is a poetic short form of /az/ |
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یک | once, one time, firstly |
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ره ز ره دجله | [when you
are on] one of the paths going via the Tigris |
منزل | place where you dismount, stopping-place along the journey; in modern Persian, this word means 'home'. |
منزل به مدائن کن | lodge / get down at Madāen, set up camp at Madāen |
منزل کردن به = اقامت کردن به | to stay, to lodge, to put
up temporarily ('at', 'in the vicinity of' = /be/) |
وز = و از | and from, and with |
وز دیده | and from [your] eye |
دوم دجله | dovom dajle = dovvom-in dajle = dajle-ye dovvom) - "a second Tigris". This usage of /dovom/ creates not only a highly literary stylistic effect, but also a smooth, enumerative flow after the /yek/ of the first mesra`. Placing the adjective /dovom/ before the noun also serves to turn the noun + adjective phrase into one compound noun: "another Tigris of a different kind", "a mini-Tigris". Also note here the poetic lack of gemination: /dovom/ in place of /dovvom/. |
ران < راندن | (You) make go! (You) drive! Here: (You) cause to flow! (imperative) < to cause to go, to drive. /rāndan/ is the causative of /raftan/, 'to make the river of tears go flowing'. |
خود دجله | The Tigris itself. pronunciation: /khod dajle/. |
چنان گرید | it weeps thus [that], it weeps in such a way [that] |
دجله ... گرید صد دجلهٔ خون | The Tigris river cries one hundred Tigris rivers of blood |
گویی = گوئی | you say. This also has become a fossilized form with the meaning, 'you might say", 'you could say', 'it's as if' (both spelling variants are fine) |
گرید < گریستن = گریه کردن | it cries < to cry. /gerye kardan/ is the modern equivalent of the obsolete /geristan/. This verb may be used with /bar/ to [literally] mean 'to cry upon' that is, make it wet, or figuratively 'to cry for someone/something' out of pity. |
صد دجلهٔ خون | it cries < to cry. /gerye kardan/ is the modern equivalent of the obsolete /geristan/ |
کز = که از | that from |
خوناب | bloody water |
چکد < چکیدن | it drips (present indicative, no mi- as in classical style) < to drip |
مژگان = مژه‌ها = پلک‌ها | mozhgān = mozhe-hā, 'eyelashes' the ān plural suffix is used with human and other animate beings or those objects belonging to animates |
آرد = آورد = می‌آورد < آوردن | it brings, (present subjunctive, no mi-), the missing /v/, ārad for āvarad is also common in classical style |
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لب | lip, bank, edge, shore |
چون | like, as, often pronounced /chun/ in classical style and /chon/ in modern style |
دهان | mouth |
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کف به دهان | foam(ing) at the mouth |
تف = گرما | warmth, pronounced /taf/. Compare with /tof/ meaning meaning spit, spittle |
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آه | sigh |
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آبله | blister, sore, rash, pox, pronounced /ābele/. (Compare with /ablah/ meaning 'fool', 'foolish'.) Here, "ābele" refers to cold sores, also known as fever blisters, groups of small blisters on the lip and around the mouth caused by the herpes simplex virus. |
آبله زد < آبله زدن | sore(s) struck, erupted < to have sores appear |
چندان | much, so much, as much |
آتش | fire, pronunciation: /ātash/ in formal and classical style. If, so far, you are only accostomed to hearing the colloquial, spoken equivalents of this word, i.e., /ātesh/ and /ātish/, you will need to make special efforts to pronounce this correctly as /ātash/ here. |
حسرت | yearning, longing, remorse |
بین < دیدن | (you) see! (imperative) < to see |
جگر | liver |
بریان = برشته | grilled, roasted, broiled |
شنیدستی = شنیده‌ای < شنیدن | have you heard? < to hear (This is a classical and literary tense similar to the present perfect in contemporary Persian.) |
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کاتش = که آتش | that fire, which fire |
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آب ... کاتش کندش بریان | water which fire makes (it) roasted, water which fire broils. The emphasis here is on the special properties of the water which can be broiled by normal fire. It is the unusual properties of sensitivity, nostalgia, love, lament of the water of Dajle for Madāen that makes it vulnerable to being broiled by the said fire. |
اتش کندش بریان = آتش آن را بریان بکند | [that] fire would broil it (subjunctive) |
گری < گریستن = گریه کردن | (you) cry! (imperative) < to cry |
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نو نو = نونو = بار
بار | again and again, over and over |
زكاة = زکات | zakāt" or "zokāt", one of the "five pillars of Islam is a portion of one's income or gain that Muslims are obligated to pay directly to help certain financially underprivileged classes of the society. This term, here implies that the receiver is at some disadvantage with respect to the giver. When someone mourns for the loss of a loved one, no matter how high and powerful they may be, they still deserve the generosity of the consoling tears of sympathy of visitors. In this sense, the mourner is at a disadvantage with respect to the visitors. Now, Tigris, though lofty, rich, and benevolent enough to give "zakāt" to the mighty sea, mourns the loss of Madāen, and as such, it is deserving of the "zakāt" of the condolence tears of the visitors. |
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گرچه = اگرچه |
although |
استان = ستان < ستدن | estān, 'taker', 'receiver', 'taking', 'receiving' is the participial form of the verb /setadan/, also pronounced /setodan/, 'to take', 'to receive'. (This verb is not related to /istādan/ , 'to stand'.) Compare with feshān ~afshān 'scattering' from the verb feshāndan, 'to scatter'. The initial alef is often added or removed for the sake of the poetic meter, also common device in breaking up clusters of consonants. Compare also with fesorde / afsorde 'frozen'. |
گر = اگر | if |
درآمیزد < درآمیختن | [if] it should mix (together), (subjunctive) < to mix (together) |
باد | wind, here, the freezing cold wind produced by sighing |
باد لب | wind of lips, wind on its lips, wind on its banks |
سوز < سوختن | burning, burning heat, present stem of /sukhtan/, to burn |
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سوز دل | burning of heart, burning in the/its heart |
باد لب و سوز دل | the [freezing] wind of lips and the burning of heart, the two temperature extremes |
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نیم | half |
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نیمی | a half |
شود < شدن | it would become, pronunciation: shavad, (subjunctive) < to become |
افسرده = فسرده < افسردن = فسردن | frozen, that which has frozen < to freeze |
آتش‌دان | fire-pit, -dān, suffix denoting a "container" for something |
تا سلسله‌ٔ درگه بگسست | at the point when, when, since the palace chain unraveled |
درگه = درگاه | court, palace court, royal palace, dargah is a poetic short form of dargāh. |
سلسله | chain; dynasty |
بگسست < گسستن | it broke, the prefix /be-/ is often added to the simple past in classical poetry, pronunciation: /bogsast/ < gosastan, to break, to break apart, to unravel, to come undone |
مدائن را | at Madāen, for Madāen. The /rā/ following /madāen/ is not marking the direct object, rather, it is singling out Madāen as the focus of attention, similar to the related form /barā-ye/. This is a usage of /rā/ very common in classical and formal styles |
در سلسله شد | it became enchained |
چون سلسله | like a chain, as a chain. |
چون سلسله شد پیچان | like a chain, it became twisted |
گه‌گه = گه‌گاه = گاه‌گاه | sometimes |
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اشک | tear, teardrop |
آواز ده < آواز دادن، کسی را | (you) call on (imperative, obsolete verb) < to call someone's name out loud, to call out to someone with a request |
بو که | it is possible that, /bu ke/, this is a classical poetic form derived from the verb /budan/, to be |
تا بو که | so that maybe, so that perhaps |
گوش دل | ear of the heart, heart's ear |
شنوی = بشنوی < شنیدن | you might hear (subjunctive) < to hear |
پاسخ | reply |
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قصر | castle, palace |
هر قصری | every palace, every castle |
پند | piece of advice, lesson, example |
پندی | one piece of advice |
پندی دهدت | it gives, it will give to you a piece of advice. The -at suffix on dahad-at replaces /be to/. |
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بن | base, root, foundation, pronunciation: bon |
سر دندانه بشنو ز بن دندان | /sar/ (top) .../bon/ ( bottom), two extremes of measurement. The poet consciously plays on this contrast by asking the reader to hear what comes from the top of the parapet from the bottom depth of his bones, so to speak. |
بشنو < شنیدن | (you) hear! (imperative) < to hear |
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دندان | tooth |
دندانه | tooth, "cog-tooth"(as on a cog-wheel) or parapet of a palace/castle. With these special teeth, the palace will "talk" to you and teach you its lesson. |
تو از خاکی = تو از خاک هستی | you are from dust |
ما خاک توایم = ما خاک تو هستیم | we are your dust |
اکنون = کنون | now |
دو سه | two or three, a few |
نه < نهادن | (you) put! (you) place! (imperative) < to put, to place |
گامی ... نه | (you) take a step! (imperative) < to take a step |
بر ما | upon us. This is one place in this poem where
/bar/ means "on". It can also be the imperative of /bordan/ as we shall see
later. |
بفشان < فشاندن = افشاندن | (you) shed! (imperative) < to shed |
نوحه | lament, lamentation, elegy |
مائیم = ما هستیم | we are |
مائیم به درد سر | we are with pain of the head. Contrast /dard-e sar/, a greater kind of pain with /sar-dard/, a simple head-ache. |
گلاب | clay, gel-āb is a certain kind of clay with
therapeutic properties. The alternative reading of “gol-āb” [=rose-water]
has also been used, but seems less justified in this context.) |
گلابی کن | make a preparation of clay, make some clay |
بنشان < نشاندن | (you) make settle (imperative) < to make settle, to cause to subside. neshāndan is the causative of the verb neshastan, 'to sit'. (Not related to /neshān/ as in 'to show' or 'sign', etc.) |
الحق | "the truth" (/al-/ is the Arabic definite article, "the"). al-haqq is also one of the names/attributes of God and may have the meaning "Oh God!" However, in normal usage, it is often simply uttered as an interjection and serves only to add a bit of emphasis or stress and would best be translated as "really!" |
جغد الحق | The poet has, by accident or design placed "joghd" and "al-haqq" next to each other, however, they are not part of a compound and in fact, there should be a comma after the "johgd". Still, the reader may recall the common Persian poetic trope, the "morgh-e haqq" who supposedly cries "haqq-haqq" all night in lamentation. Here the poet is merely saying "From the lamenting of the owl, truth be told, we reel in head pain." |
جغد است پی بلبل، نوحه است پی الحان | The poet is playing on a stark contrast here: "nightingale" and "song" stand for happiness and jubilation; "owl" and "lamentation" stand for misery, sadness, destruction, loss, and lament. They are not the same thing, nor one morphs into the other. The second inevitably follows the first, the same way that in Khayyām's quatrain about this same palace, at one point in time, Jamshid is raising his cup, and then deer is giving birth to its fawn and fox is resting. The same contrast in Hafez, when he talks about the feast of Jamshid, and their recognition that that era would not last |
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عجب داری < عجب داشتن | you find [it] strange (present indicative, no mi-) < to consider strange and wondrous |
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آری | yes, classical and literary form |
چه عجب | how strange |
کاندر = که اندر | that inside |
چمن | lawn, pasture, meadow |
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گیتی | world |
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جغد | owl (an inauspicious creature in the
Persian tradition) |
پی بلبل | after the nightingale, following after of the nightingale |
الحان = لحن‌ها | melodies, tunes, chants |
داد | justice |
بارگه = بارگاه | court, bār-gah is the poetic short form of bār-gāh |
ما بارگه دادیم = ما بارگه داد هستیم | We are the court of justice. |
ستم | injustice, pronunciation: setam |
این رفت ستم = این ستم رفت | "in raft setam" is an inversion of "in setam raft" for poetic emphasis effect: "this injustice befell us". |
ستم‌کاران = ستم‌کارها | tyrants |
تا خود چه رسد | /tā/ here simply means "until" and in this context it implies "[now we can only sit back and wait] until [the inevitable happens now that the wheels have been set in motion]". This formulaic /tā/ often appears in the line containing the "moral of the story" in didactic fables and advice literature. This sense of "tā" is also used in the common expression, tā cheshm-etān kur shavad = [just wait] until you become blind, i.e., reap the horrible consequences, see the just desserts in this lesson.) |
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خذلان | wretchedness, ill-luck, calamity. pronunciation: khezlān |
تا خود چه رسد | khod, self, here used adverbially, "by itself", "inevitably": until the inevitable happens all by itself |
چه رسد | what [misfortune] will arrive, come, befall, (present indicative, no mi-.) |
فلک‌وش | heaven-like. The sufix -vash means "-like". |
که = کی | who? (classical spelling style) |
نگون کرده < نگون کردن | he/she/it has overturned, turned upside down, inverted < to overturn |
حکم | order, edict, decree |
(حکم) فلک‌گردان: گردان < گشتن / گردیدن | gard-ān, turning (by itself), -ān suffix for present participle |
(یا حکم) فلک‌گردان: | gardān, causing turning, present stem of gardāndan, causative form of gashtan and gardidan |
فلک‌گردان | This is read in two ways: either as /gashtan/gardidan/ in participle form (meaning "turning by itself") or as the present stem of /gardāndan/ meaning "causing to turn". The poet uses the former first and the latter second in the same line 16. |