غَزَلِ  سَعْدی

2 اِخْتيار آن اَسْت کو قِسْمَت کُنَد دَرويش را

1  ما قَلَم دَر سَر کَشيديم اِخْتيارِ خويش را

  ekh ti ār  ā |  nas TO ku qes | mat ko nad dar | vi SHO rā

mā qa lam dar| sar ke shi dim| ekh ti ā re| khi SHO rā

  L  S  L   L   |  L   S    L    L    |   L   S    L   L   | L    S    L

L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

 free will is that which HE  makes [be] the fate of  the darvish

  we turned away our head by our [own] will
 
4گو طَمَع کَم کُن کِه زَحْمَت بيش باشَدبيش  را 3  آن کِه  مِکْنَت بيش اَز آن خواهَد کِه قِسْمَت کَردَه اَنْد

 gu ta ma`  kam| kon ke zah mat| bi SHO bā shad| bi SHO rā

 ān ke mek nat| bish az ān khā | had ke qes mat| kar de and

  L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L      |   L   S   L   L   | L S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

say [to him], be less greedy for the effort will be [all the] more for that [extra] more

 he who wants power more than what [the heavens] have made be his fate
 
6  نوش می‌خواهی هَلا گَر پای داری نيش را 5  خَمْرِ دُنْيا با خُمار و گُل بِه خار آميخْتَه اَسْت

 nu SHO mi khā|  hi ha  lā gar | pā i dā ri | ni  SHO rā

  kham re don yā| bā kho mā  ro| gol be khā rā| mikh te ast

  L   S   L     L   |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  EL

[if] you want honey/enjoyment beware if you can't stand the sting

  the wine of the world is mingled with hangover and the rose with thorn

 
8   جَهْد کُن تا باز يابی هَمْرَهانِ پيش را 7  اَی کِه خواب آلودَه واپَس مانْدَه اِی اَز کارْوان

 jah  DO  kon  tā| bā  ZO  yā  bi  | ham ra hā ne | pi SHO rā

  ay ke khā  bā| lu de vā pas  |  mān de i  az| kā RO vān

  L   S   L   L   |  L   S   L   L   |   L   S   L    L   | L  S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

make effort to find again the fellow-travelers of before

  hey you  who sleepily have remained behind the caravan
 
10 بِشِکَن اَر مَرْدی هَوای نَفْسِ کافِر کيش را 9  دَر تُو آن مَرْدی نِمی‌بينَم کِه کافِر بِشِکَنی

 besh ke nar  mar| di ha vā ye| naf se kā fer| ki SHO rā

 dar to ān mar| di ne mi bi| nam ke kā fer| besh ka ni

  L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L   S   L    L | L  S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

smash, if you are a man, the desire of the [lower] soul for the  religion of heresy

  in you I don't see that heresy-smashing manliness
 
12 چُون شَبان آن گَه کِه گُرْگ اَفْکَنْدَه باشَد ميش را 11 آن گَه اَز خواب اَنْدَر آيَد مَرْدُمِ نادان کِه مُرْد

 chon sha bān ān| gah ke gor gāf| kan de bā shad| mi SHO rā

  ān ga haz khāb| an da rā yad| mar DO me nā| dān ke mord

  L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  EL

like the shepherd when the wolf has [already] felled the sheep

  the fool at that time will come out from sleep when he has died
 
14  زانْکِه هَرْگِز بَد نَباشَد نَفْسِ نيک‌اَنْديش را 13  خويشْتَن را خَير خواهی خَير خواهِ خَلْق باش

 zān ke har gez| bad na bā shad| naf se ni kan| di SHO rā

  khi SHO tan rā |khay RO khā hi| khay RO khā he| khal QO bāsh

  L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

for never will be bad happen to the good-thinking soul

  if you want good for yourself,  be good wishing for the creatures

 
16  کآدَمی را تَن بِلَرْزَد چُون بِبينَد ريش را 15  آدَميَّت رَحْم بَر بيچارَگان آوَرْدَن اَسْت

 kā da mi rā | tan be lar zad | chon be bi nad| ri SHO rā

  ā   da  mi  yat | rah MO bar bi | chā re gā nā| var da nast

  L  S  L   L  |  L   S   L    L   |  L   S   L    L   | L S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  EL

for as for a person, his body will tremble as soon as he sees/suffers  a wound

  being human is bringing mercy on the helpless
 
18 اَی فَقيه اَوّل نصيحَت گوی نَفْسِ خويش را 17 راسْتی کَرْدَنْد و فَرمودَنْد مَرْدان خُدای

ay fa qih av| val na si hat | gu i naf se | khi SHO rā

  rā SO ti kar | dan do far mu | dan DO mar dā| ne kho dāi

  L  S L  L   |  L  S   L  L   |  L  S  L  L | L  S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

oh lawyer, first give a moral lesson to your own [lower] soul

  the people of God have been corrected and commanded
 
20  گَر نَخواهی هَمْچُنان بيگانَه را و خويش را 19  آنْچِه نَفْسِ خويش را خواهی حَرامَت سَعْديا

 gar na khā hi| ham cho nān bi| gā ne rā o | khi SHO rā

  ān che naf se | khi SHO rā khā | he kha rā mat| sa` di yā

  L   S   L  L   |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

 L   S   L     L    |  L   S   L   L   |  L  S  L  L | L S  L

if you don't desire, it's the same thing whether it's yours or a stranger's

  whatever your [lower] soul wants is forbidden to you oh Sadi
 

Listen to this poem read in two different styles:

#1  The way it's supposed to be read.

 Hope you'll enjoy and try to imitate...

  

 #2  Read according to the meter.

 This style is provided only to show you the "behind-the-scenes" mechanics.  Poetry is never actually recited this way so don't try this in public! The trick is to always be conscious of the meter  but  make it look like you're not!  Listen to this style many, many times until it's in your blood, then throw it in the garbage and try to emulate the correct style to your left (#1)

 Listen

Listen



 

Pattern of meter :

--> Long Short Long Long  | Long  Short  Long  Long  |  Long  Short  Long  Long  | Long Short  (Extra)Long    

    qāfiye: ish

     radif: rā   

L(ong) is a long syllable, S(hort) is a short syllable and E(xtra)L(ong) is a syllable, usually restricted to the last foot, containing a consonant cluster. A long syllable may contain a consonant + short vowel + consonant OR consonant + long vowel. A short syllable contains a consonant + short vowel.  In the older stages of the Persian language, long vowels really were pronounced with a longer duration and short vowels a little shorter, however, this distinction has been lost in the modern language. Today, only a master poetry reader can produce this effect.
Meter (وَزْن ): It is essential to first figure out the meter of a poem before attempting to understand the meaning.  This is how you can tell, among other things,  where the ezāfe's go and how you can distinguish  words whose meaning depends on a tashdid  (for example serr ("secret") and sar ("head").
  Procedure:  
    First, mark off the long vowels: ā, i, u, and  long diphthongs: ay, aw (but careful if they are followed by a suffix)
    Then, mark off the short vowels: a, e, o
     
    When you see the pattern, deal with vowels which can be either long or short:
      final "he" unpronounced "he"
      word-final u/o (including the "vāv"  meaning "and" in poetry always pronounced (v)o)
      ezāfe's
      any other word-final short vowels
      /i/ + vowel (especially /iyā/)
     tashdid's and hamze's are sometimes made use of  and sometimes ignored.
    two Short syllables may be counted as one Long syllable
    The first syllable of a foot may (in certain meters) be short, even if the meter calls for it to be long.
    It takes some juggling  to figure out where one syllable ends and the next begins. Learn to ignore spelling--syllabic units transcend word boundaries.
    If you find you have 2 consonants, one-after-another (except "nun" + consonant), you need to break them up by adding a short vowel.  However,  in the last "foot" or section of the verse, it is ok to have a consonant cluster and that syllable is called "ExtraLong"
Hacking up the words of a poem to bits and pieces like this is called تَقْطيع   /taqti`/ "cutting" in Persian. In English it is called scanning. MORE!

References:

Ghazaliyat-i Sadi (page 630, #35)

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