Hafez · Ghazal 128 · No beauty in this city
نیست در شهر نگاری که دل ما ببردبختم ار یار شود رختم از این جا ببرد
کو حریفی کش سرمست که پیش کرمشعاشق سوخته‌دل، نام تمنا ببرد
باغبانا ز خزان، بی‌خبرت می‌بینمآه از آن روز که بادت گل رعنا ببرد
رهزن دهر نخفته‌ست، مشو ایمن از اواگر امروز نبرده‌ست که فردا ببرد
در خیال، این همه لعبت به هوس می‌بازمبو که صاحب‌نظری نام تماشا ببرد
علم و فضلی که به چل سال دلم جمع آوردترسم آن نرگس مستانه به یغما ببرد
بانگ گاوی، چه صدا باز دهد؟ عشوه مخرسامری کیست که دست از ید بیضا ببرد؟
جام مینایی می، سد ره تنگ‌دلی‌ستمنه از دست که سیل غمت از جا ببرد
راه عشق ار چه کمینگاه کمانداران استهر که دانسته رود صرفه ز اعدا ببرد
حافظ! ار جان طلبد غمزه مستانه یارخانه از غیر بپرداز و بهل تا ببرد
The gardener who forgets autumn loses his rose; Hafez asks you to see your situation clearly. Time does take things, today or tomorrow, so hold what you love with open eyes and enjoy it while it blooms. Do not be dazzled by noise that only imitates the real thing. The road ahead may have its archers, but whoever walks it knowingly comes through. Keep a little joy within reach as a dam against low spirits, and if love asks for your whole heart, clear the house for it.
There is no beauty in this city who could steal our heart;
if fortune is my friend, it will carry my belongings away from here.
Where is a generous, drunken companion, before whose kindness
the heart-burned lover might speak of his longing?
Gardener, I see you unaware of autumn;
alas for the day the wind carries off your lovely rose.
The highwayman of time has not fallen asleep; do not feel safe from him:
if he has not robbed you today, he will tomorrow.
In imagination I play with all these figures out of longing,
in the hope that someone with insight will call it a sight worth seeing.
The learning and merit my heart gathered in forty years,
I fear that drunken narcissus will carry off as plunder.
The lowing of a calf, what echo can it give? Do not be beguiled:
who is Samiri, to get the better of the shining hand?
The crystal cup of wine is a dam against narrowness of heart;
do not let it go, or the flood of grief will sweep you away.
Though the road of love is an ambush of archers,
whoever walks it knowingly gets the better of the enemy.
Hafez, if the beloved's drunken glance asks for your life,
clear the house of others, and let it take it.