کاش ای تنها امید زندگی
Kaash Ay Tanha Omide Zendagi
“If Only, O Sole Hope of Life”
Lyrics
Lyrics updated · July 2026English Translation
Would that, O only hope of life I could forget you Or on a night like burning fire in my heart I could silence you within the sanctuary of my breast Would that, O would that
Would that like a heavy sleep from my eyes In the middle of the night your memory would flee The bird of my heart — cold, broken-winged Would flee from the realm of your longing Would that, O would that
Transliteration
Kaash ay tanha omide zendagi Metawanestam faramoshad konam Ya shabe chon atashe sozane dil Dar harime seena khamoshat konam Kaash ay kaash
Kash hamcho khwab geran az dida-am Neemaye shab yade royat megorekht Morgh dil afsorda bal o basta par Az deyare arezoyat megorekht Kash ay kash
Morghe dil afsorda bal o basta par Az deyare arezoyat megorekht Dar dilam atash namezad aan negah Kash aan shab chashmhayam koor bood Kash ay kash
متن اصلی
کاش ای تنها امید زندگی میتوانستم فراموشت کنم یا شب چون آتش سوزان دل درحریم سینه خاموشت کنم کاش ای کاش
کاش همچو خواب گران از دیده ام نیمۀ شب یاد رویت میگریخت مرغ دل افسرده بال و بسته پر از دیار آرزویت میگریخت کاش ای کاش
مرغ دل افسرده بال و بسته پر از دیار آرزویت میگریخت دردلم آتش نمیزد آن نگاه کاش آن شب چشمهایم کور بود کاش ای کاش
Would that I could forget you — or silence you within my breast on a night of burning; would that your memory would flee like heavy sleep; the bird of my heart, cold and broken-winged, would flee from the realm of your longing.
About This Recording
Kaash Ay Tanha Omide Zendagi — Would That, O Only Hope of Life — is built around the Persian optative 'kaash' (would that, if only), which in Persian lyric signals a desire known to be unattainable. One does not say 'would that' about things one actually expects to happen. The opening address — 'O only hope of life' — gives the beloved the highest possible standing before immediately declaring the speaker's wish to be free of them.
The paradox is precise: the only hope of life is also the source of unbearable burning, and the speaker wishes simultaneously to escape and to have found the one worth escaping from. 'I could silence you within the sanctuary of my breast' — the breast (sina) as sanctuary (harim) turns the body into a sacred enclosure; the wish is to close the sanctuary against what has already entered it.
'The bird of my heart — cold, broken-winged / Would flee from the realm of your longing' — the bird is not free or vital; it is cold and broken before it tries to flee. The 'would that' applies to a bird already damaged. Even the desired escape is performed from a position of injury. The repeated 'would that, O would that' (kaash, ay kaash) at the end is not emphasis but the sound of a wish circling back on itself, unable to resolve.
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