وقت سحر است خیز ای مایهٔ ناز
نرمک نرمک باده ده و چنگ نواز
کانها که بجایند نپایند دراز
و انها که شدند کس نمیآید باز
Dashti, quatrain 16, p. 247
vaqt-e sahar hst khiz ey maaye-ye naaz
narmak narmak baade deh o chang navaaz
kaanhaa ke bejaayand napaayand deraaz
vaanhaa ke shodand kas nemiaayad baaz
Here is the dawn, my Love, arise, O pray,
Partake of wine and tune the lyre to play``
Of those alive none shall remain for long,
Nor shall any return who've passed away.
Saidi, quatrain 26
Translation & Discussion of the quatrain: 1. It is the time of daybreak, arise, o charm, coyness, sweetness, aloofness, delight, "my love" which Saidi has. naaz has the connotation of the essence of style, the naaz-possessor has got "vibe" - a word still used, but the expression "it" was used more than a half-century ago -- "she's got 'it'". Of course the word conveys the boastful delight the beloved takes in aloofness and independence from the lover. But here, "my love", as Ahmad Saidi writes is suitable, and the word need not carry the sense of cruel and delicious aloofness, although this meaning is there and would occur to the listener/reader of the quatrain. In the context of the quatrain, the beloved is invited to enter the space of the present, free from guile, as FitzGerald writes (as you will see below): You know how little while we have to stay/And once departed, may return no more. 2. Softly, softly pour the wine and strum the lyre -- Forughi, Hedaayat (and Saidi) read: baade khor, drink wine. 3. Since those who are here will not be here long. The verbs جاییدن and پاییدن , jaayidan and paayidan are denominatives, that is, they are verbs which are derived from nouns, jaa(y) and paa(y) respectively: "to be in place" and "to have a foothold". Saidi's source-text reads: کانها که بپایند نمانند دراز "those who are planted here won't remain here long" 4. And (of) those who departed, not one has come back.
Heron- Allen, pp. 7-11 claims that this quatrain was one of four quatrains which inspired FitzGerald's Stanza III, 4th ed.:
And, as the cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted—"Open the Door!
You know how little while we have to stay,
And, once departed, may return no more."