امروز ترا دسترس فردا نیست
واندیشۀ فردات بجز سودا نیست
ضا یع مکن این دم اردلت بیداراست
کاین باقی عمررا بقا پیدا نیست
Hedaayat, quatrain 135
emruz toraa dastras fardaa nist
vandishe-ye fardaat bejoz sowdaa nist
zaaye‘ makon in dam ar delat bidaar ast
kin baaqi-ye ‘omr raa baqaa peydaa nist
To-day is thine to spend, but not to-morrow,
Counting on morrows breedeth nothing but sorrows;
Oh! squander not this breath that heaven hath lent thee,
Nor make too sure another breath to borrow!
Whinfield, quatrain 30
Today, tomorrow is not within your reach,
To think of it is only morbid:
If the heart is awake, do not waste this moment --
There is no proof of life's continuance.
Avery, Heath-Stubbs, quatrain 135
Today is here but not tomorrow
thinking 'tomorrow' will make you sad.
If your heart is game, seize this moment
what lies ahead, who knows about that?
Translation & Discussion of the quatrain:Today is at hand/accessible to you, tomorrow is not 2. And the thought of tomorrow is nothing but sadness for you -- I think the 2nd person pronoun appended to fardaa(t), can be taken either with "thinking" - your thinking of tomorrow, or with "sadness". The latter is stronger. 3. Do not waste this moment if your heart is awake -- quatrain 56, Dashti, reads: ... ار دلت شیدا نیست, ar delat sheydaa nist, "if your heart is not distraught/crazed" (ار, ar = اگر, agar). 4. Since for this remainder of life continuing on/continuance is not established/a certain thing -- Dashti has بها, bahaa "price" or "value" instead of بقا , baqaa, "continuance'": no value has been placed on what's left in this life , that is, the value is placed in today and no estimates exist for tomorrow, so what value is there in thinking about or living for tomorrow.
In its carpe diem theme, the quatrain is reminiscent of quatrain 9 on this weblog.
And Hafez (160.5, Khanlari & 164.5, Qazvini):
ای دل ار عشرت امروز به فردا فکنی
مایهٔ نقد بقا را که ضمان خواهد شد
ey del ar ‘eshrat-e emruz be fardaa fakani / maaye-ye naqd-e baqaa raa ke zamaan khaahad shod
Heart, if you postpone 'til tomorrow
the pleasure life gives today
who will provide the treasure
to live the rest of your life?
(literally, who will guarantee the cash for the rest of your life)