گفت لَبَم ناگهان نامِ گُل و گُلْسِتان
آمد آن گُلْ عِذار، کوفت مرا بر دَهان

Suddenly, my lips spoke the name of the rose and the rose garden,
That rose-faced One arrived and struck me across the mouth.

گفت که سُلطان مَنَم، جانِ گُلِستان مَنَم
حَضرتِ چون من شَهی، وان گَهْ یادِ فُلان؟

He said, “I am the Sultan, the Spirit of the rose garden,
In the presence of a Sovereign like me, and you think of someone/something else?”

پیشِ چو من کیقُباد، چَشم بَدَم دور باد 
شَرْم ندارد کسی یاد کُند از کِهان؟

“In front of a Majesty like me, may the evil eye be far!
Who, without shame, recalls the lesser [in a royal court]?”

جُغد بُوَد کو به باغ، یادِ خَرابه کُند
زاغ بُوَد کو بهار یاد کُند از خَزان

“It is the owl that, while in the garden, thinks of ruins;
It is the crow that, in springtime, thinks of autumn.”

پُشتِ جهان دیده‌یی، روی جهان را ببین
پُشت به خود کُن که تا رویْ نِمایَد جهان

“You've seen the back of the world—now behold its face;
Turn your back to yourself, so the world may reveal its face.”

ای قَمَرِ زیرِ میغ، خویش ندیدی، دریغ  
چند چو سایه دَوی در پِیِ این دیگران؟

“O moon behind the cloud, alas—you’ve never seen yourself;
How long will you run like a shadow behind these others?”

بس که مرا دامِ شعر، از دَغَلی بَند کرد 
تا که زِدَسَتم شکار جَست سویِ گُلْسِتان

“So often did the snare of poetry bind me with deceit,
That the prey escaped my grasp and fled into the rose garden.”

در پِیِ دُزدی بُدَم، دُزد دِگَر بانگ کرد   
هِشْتَم، بازآمدم، گفتم و هین چیست آن؟

“I was chasing a thief when another one cried out;
I stopped, returned, and asked: ‘What was that?’”

گفت که اینک نشان، دُزدِ تو این سوی رفت    
دُزد مرا باد داد، آن دَغَلِ کَژْنشان

He said, “Here’s the sign—your thief fled this way;
That thief left me in ruins, that crooked deceiver.”

Rumi, Divan, Ghazal 2059: The Rose-Faced One & the Lost Self 

Translated by Rasoul Rahbari-Ghazani, 15 June 2025