Naqdhā rā bovad āyā

Naqdhā rā bovad āyā is a short ghazal (love poem) by the 14th-century Persian poet Hafez of Shiraz.

He describes the delights of making love to the sound of music, and tells how powerless they will be when overcome by the beauty of a beloved.

The poem is written in such a way that it is difficult to tell whether Hafez is describing a real scene of love-making or using symbolic language to illustrate the mystic ecstasy of a Sufi on the path to union with God.

In the pictures a gentleman in a red gown, illustrated twice, is making advances to a young male wine-pourer (sāqī).

Three musicians, playing a drum (tabl), flute (ney) and a stringed instrument (tar) are accompanying a person, apparently a woman, who is dancing.

In Hafez's poems a frequent theme is that the way to heaven is best found through Love rather than through reason ('aql), wisdom (hekmat) or religion (dīn).

Torkān "Turks", in the language of Persian love poetry, is a metaphor frequently used for the beautiful youths who ravage the hearts of their lovers.