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- The full poem in Farsi, with romanization and an accurate, verse-by-verse translation
- Who’s actually speaking in each line — this ghazal is a dialogue, not a monologue
- Why Hafez addresses himself by name in the final couplet
- The poem’s central theme: grief that promises its own end
Goftam Gham-e To Daram: Hafez’s Poem of Grief and Its Ending
Goftam gham-e to daram (“I said, I bear grief for you”) is one of Hafez’s most quietly devastating ghazals — eight couplets structured entirely as a dialogue between a grieving lover and an unnamed Beloved who answers, sometimes tenderly, sometimes evasively, but always with the promise that sorrow, like everything else, will pass. It’s a poem about the psychology of longing as much as longing itself.
Goftam Gham-e To Daram — In Farsi
گفتـم غـم تو دارم گفتا غمت سر آید
Goftam gham-e to daram, gofta ghamat sar ayad
گفتـم کـه ماه من شو گفتا اگر برآید
Goftam ke mah-e man shaw, gofta agar barayad
گفـتـم ز مـهرورزان رسم وفا بیاموز
Goftam ze mehrvarzan rasm-e vafa biamoz
گـفـتا ز خوبرویان این کار کمـتر آید
Gofta ze khubruyan in kar kamtar ayad
گفـتـم کـه بر خیالت راه نظر ببندم
Goftam ke bar khayalat rah-e nazar bebandam
گفـتا که شب رو است او از راه دیگر آید
Gofta ke shab ro ast o az rah-e digar ayad
گفتـم که بوی زلفت گمراه عالمم کرد
Goftam ke boy-e zolfat gomrah-e aalamam kard
گـفـتا اگر بدانی هم اوت رهـبر آید
Gofta agar bedani ham oot rahbar ayad
گفتم زمان عشرت دیدی که چون سر آمد
Goftam zaman-e ashret didi ke chon sar amad
گفتا خموش حافظ کاین غصه هم سر آید
Gofta khomosh Hafez kain ghasse ham sar ayad
Verse by Verse: What’s Actually Being Said
Every couplet follows the same pattern: the poet speaks, then the Beloved answers. Understanding who’s talking in each line unlocks the whole poem.
گفتـم کـه ماه من شو گفتا اگر برآید
The Beloved’s answers are never quite a yes — “your grief will end” isn’t the same as “I’ll end it,” and “if it should rise” makes even her presence conditional.
گـفـتا ز خوبرویان این کار کمـتر آید
A sharp, self-aware line — the Beloved essentially admits that beauty and faithfulness rarely travel together.
گفـتا که شب رو است او از راه دیگر آید
You can’t will yourself out of longing; it finds a route around any defense you build.
گـفـتا اگر بدانی هم اوت رهـبر آید
What feels like losing your way may, from another angle, be the way itself — a favorite Hafez reversal.
گفـتا خنـک نسیمی کز کوی دلبر آید
A rare moment of shared, simple beauty before the poem turns again.
گـفـتا تو بـندگی کن کو بنده پرور آید
Devotion is framed as the condition for reward, not a guarantee of it.
گفـتا مـگوی با کس تا وقت آن درآید
Even reconciliation is kept secret, on the Beloved’s timeline, not the poet’s.
گفتا خموش حافظ کاین غصه هم سر آید
The closing couplet. The poem answers its own opening line: grief that promised to end, does.
Why “Hafez” Suddenly Appears in the Last Line
Readers new to Persian poetry often assume “Hafez” is a character the poet is addressing throughout the poem. He isn’t — for seven couplets, the dialogue is entirely between the poet and an unnamed Beloved. Hafez’s own name appears only once, in the final line, where the poet steps back and addresses himself by his pen name: “Be quiet, Hafez.”
What This Poem Is Actually About
Grief With an Expiry Date
The poem opens and closes on the same promise — sorrow will end. Everything in between tests whether the poet believes it.
An Evasive Beloved
Every answer from the Beloved is technically true but never fully reassuring — a deliberate ambiguity Hafez returns to across his ghazals.
Devotion as Its Own Reward
The poem repeatedly frames faithfulness (vafa) and devotion as conditions to be met, not guarantees — a theme common across Persian love poetry and everyday expressions of sabr (patience).
Human Love or Divine?
In the Sufi reading, the Beloved represents the divine, and the poem becomes about spiritual longing rather than romantic love — a deliberate ambiguity Hafez rarely resolves.
Persian poetry rewards close reading
A native tutor can walk you through ghazals like this one line by line — the wordplay, the ambiguity, and the culture behind it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “goftam gham-e to daram” mean?
It means “I said, I bear grief for you” — the opening line of a Hafez ghazal structured as a dialogue between the poet and an unnamed Beloved.
Who is Hafez speaking to in this poem?
For most of the poem, an unnamed Beloved — not another person called Hafez. Hafez’s own name appears only in the final couplet, where the poet addresses himself, a convention called the takhallus.
Is this poem about romantic or spiritual love?
Both readings are valid and this ambiguity is deliberate. In a Sufi reading, the Beloved represents the divine; read literally, it’s a poem about romantic longing and an evasive lover.
What is the takhallus in Persian poetry?
The takhallus is the poet’s pen name, traditionally worked into the final couplet of a ghazal, often as the poet addressing or advising himself directly.
