بت نازنینم
Bote Nazaneenam
“My Beloved, My Idol”
Lyrics
Lyrics updated · July 2026English Translation
O my delicate idol! O my kind one Why are you angry with me — may your troubles be mine
My dear! What did I do that you are offended? Tell me so I may know my own sin
Do you want my life? Tell me and I will give it Do you give me poison? Give it — I will take it
The sky was astonished at my power And now I am this helpless before you
In the end I must flee from this city For the people have grown weary of my lamentation
Transliteration
Bote nazaninam! mahe mehrabanam Chera qahri az man, balayat ba janam
Azizam! chi gardam ke ranjidi az man Bego ta gonahe khodam ra bedanam
Ze man omr khwahi? bego ta bebakhsham Ba man zahr bakhshi? bedeh ta setanam
Falak maat bowad az tawanaye man Ke aknon chonin pesh tu natawanam
Ze dar mohabat bajoz naam janan Ba chize nagardad zaban dar dahanam
Man akhir az ein shahr bayad gorezam Ke mardom ba tang amadand az feghanam
Che dastan konam ta rawam jaye degar Ke ein molk por shod az dastanam
متن اصلی
بت نازنينم! مه مهربانم چرا قهري از من، بلايت به جانم
عزيزم! چه كردم كه رنجيدي از من بگو تا گناه خودم را بدانم
ز من عمر خواهي؟ بگو تا ببخشم به من زهر بخشي؟ بده تا ستانم
فلك مات بود از توانايي من كه اكنون چنين پيش تو ناتوانم
ز درس محبت بجز نام جانان به چيزي نگردد زبان در دهانم
من آخر از اين شهر بايد گريزم كه مردم به تنگ آمدند از فغانم
چه دستان كنم تا روم جاي ديگر كه اين ملك پر شد از داستانم
O my delicate idol — why are you angry? Do you want my life — I will give it; do you give me poison — I will take it; the sky was astonished at my former power, now I am helpless before you.
About This Recording
Bote Nazaneenam — O My Delicate Idol — addresses an angered beloved with a combination of appeasement and absolute surrender. 'Why are you angry with me — may your troubles be mine' is the standard formula of absolute indulgence: the beloved's anger is taken not as something to dispute but as something to absorb, to transfer onto the speaker. Whatever is making her trouble, the speaker will carry it.
'Do you want my life? Tell me and I will give it / Do you give me poison? Give it — I will take it' — the two offers together reveal the extent of the surrender. Life offered voluntarily; poison accepted without resistance. The speaker's will is entirely subordinated: whatever the beloved decides, including the speaker's death, is acceptable. This is the formal expression of complete devotion in the ghazal tradition.
'The sky was astonished at my power / And now I am this helpless before you' — the contrast between former power (celebrated even by the sky) and present helplessness is the song's most striking couplet. The speaker was once someone of significance; the beloved has reduced them to helplessness. The reduction is not presented as a complaint but as evidence of the beloved's power. The final couplet adds a social dimension: the city has grown weary of the lamentation, and the speaker must eventually flee. Even the audience for the grief has limits.
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