Hafez · Ghazal 116 · Whoever keeps the Friend in view
کسی که حسن و خط دوست در نظر داردمحقق است که او حاصل بصر دارد
چو خامه در ره فرمان او، سر طاعتنهاده‌ایم مگر او به تیغ بردارد
کسی به وصل تو چون شمع یافت پروانهکه زیر تیغ تو هر دم سری دگر دارد
به پای‌بوس تو دست کسی رسید که اوچو آستانه بدین در، همیشه سر دارد
ز زهد خشک ملولم، کجاست باده ناب؟که بوی باده مدامم دماغ تر دارد
ز باده هیچت اگر نیست، این نه بس که تو رادمی ز وسوسه عقل بی‌خبر دارد؟
کسی که از ره تقوا قدم برون ننهادبه عزم میکده اکنون ره سفر دارد
دل شکسته حافظ به خاک خواهد بردچو لاله، داغ هوایی، که بر جگر دارد
To keep what you love in view, the verse says, is already the harvest of having eyes. Hafez speaks of a devotion that bows like a pen to its writer and returns, like the threshold, to the same door. He is tired of a dry, joyless correctness and longs for something fresh to wake his mind. Even the most careful person sometimes sets out on a new road. Rest from overthinking, stay faithful to what you love, and let your heart breathe.
Whoever keeps the Friend's beauty and down before his eyes
has surely gained the true harvest of sight.
Like the pen on the path of his command, we have laid down
our head in obedience, unless he lifts it off with the sword.
Only he found union with you, as the moth does with the candle,
who, like the candle, grows a new head every moment beneath your blade.
Only his hand reached your feet to kiss them
who, like the threshold, keeps his head always at this door.
I am weary of dry asceticism; where is pure wine?
For the scent of wine keeps my mind ever fresh.
Even if wine gives you nothing else, is it not enough
that for a moment it frees you from the whispering of reason?
The one who never set a foot outside the road of piety
is now packing for a journey, bound for the tavern.
The broken heart of Hafez will carry into the dust
the brand of longing it bears within, like the tulip.