Between the Cup and the Heart: A Reflection on Love, Longing, and the Ghazal of Hatef Esfahani

There is a cup, passed from hand to hand, filled with wine that glows in the morning light.
In the gathering of lovers, one hand pours and another receives.
But not all cups are equal — not all hearts are chosen.
And in this difference, in this quiet injustice of affection, begins the ache of the soul.

ای که در جام رقیبان می پیاپی می‌کنی

خون دل در ساغر عشاق تا کی می‌کنی

می‌نوازی غیر را هر لحظه از لطف و مرا

دم به دم خون در دل از جور پیاپی می‌کنی

راه اگر گم شد نه جرم ناقه از سرگشتگی است

بی گناه این راه‌پیما ناقه را پی می‌کنی

ناله و افغان من بشنو خدا را تا به کی

گوش بر آواز چنگ و نالهٔ نی می‌کنی

ساقیا صبح است و طرف باغ و هاتف در خمار

گر نه در ساغر کنون می می‌کنی کی می‌کنی؟

Hatef Esfahani begins his ghazal with an image that is at once earthly and celestial:
"O you who pour wine into the cups of rivals again and again — how long will you fill the goblet of the lovers with the blood of their hearts?"

In these few words, a whole world of feeling is born. The lover speaks not in anger, but in wonder — why must love always wound the ones who love the most? Why does the beloved, radiant and unreachable, show kindness to others, yet turn a face of indifference to the one whose heart burns with devotion?

The …