Hafez · Ghazal 148 · When my beloved takes the cup
یارم چو قدح به دست گیردبازار بتان شکست گیرد
هر کس که بدید چشم او گفت«کو محتسبی که مست گیرد؟»
در بحر فتادهام چو ماهیتا یار مرا به شست گیرد
در پاش فتادهام به زاریآیا بود آن که دست گیرد؟
خرم دل آن که همچو حافظجامی ز می الست گیرد
This short ghazal is about letting yourself be found. Hafez falls into the sea like a fish, hoping to be caught; he falls at the beloved's feet and asks only whether someone will take his hand. If you have been trying hard to hold everything together, the verse suggests a different posture: openness, and trust that help comes to the one who asks. Remember the first covenant of love, older than any trouble. Someone may already be reaching for your hand.
When my beloved takes the cup in hand,
the market of the idols collapses.
Everyone who saw her eye said,
"Where is a muhtasib to arrest the drunk?"
I have fallen into the sea like a fish
so that the beloved may catch me on her hook.
I have fallen at her feet in tears;
will there be someone to take my hand?
Happy the heart of the one who, like Hafez,
takes a cup of the wine of Alast.