Hafez · Ghazal 190 · The day your musky pen remembers us
کلک مشکین تو، روزی که ز ما یاد کندببرد اجر دو صد بنده که آزاد کند
قاصد منزل سلمی که سلامت بادشچه شود، گر به سلامی، دل ما، شاد کند؟
امتحان کن! که بسی گنج مرادت بدهندگر خرابی چو مرا، لطف تو، آباد کند
یا رب! اندر دل آن خسرو شیرین اندازکه به رحمت، گذری بر سر فرهاد کند!
شاه را به بود از طاعت صدساله و زهدقدر یک ساعته عمری که در او، داد کند
حالیا، عشوه ناز تو، ز بنیادم بردتا دگرباره، حکیمانه، چه بنیاد کند
گوهر پاک تو از مدحت ما مستغنی‌ستفکر مشاطه، چه با حسن خداداد کند؟
ره نبردیم به مقصود خود اندر شیرازخرم آن روز که «حافظ»، ره بغداد کند
A single word of remembrance, Hafez says, is worth as much as freeing two hundred captives. If someone is waiting to hear from you, a greeting costs little and could gladden a whole heart. If you are the one waiting, this ghazal holds that hope gently. It also reminds you that one hour of justice outweighs a hundred years of outward piety: kindness is the truest devotion. And if the road to your goal seems closed where you are, there may be another road, another place, where it opens.
On the day your musky pen remembers us,
it will earn the reward of freeing two hundred slaves.
The messenger from Salma's dwelling, may peace be upon him,
what would it cost him to gladden our heart with a greeting?
Try it: they will give you many treasures of your desire
if your kindness rebuilds a ruin like me.
O Lord, put it into the heart of that sweet Khosrow
to pass, in mercy, by Farhad.
Better for the king than a hundred years of obedience and abstinence
is one hour of his life in which he does justice.
For now, your coquetry has torn me from my foundations;
let us see what it will wisely build again.
Your pure nature has no need of our praise;
what can the beautician's art do for God-given beauty?
We did not find the road to our goal in Shiraz;
happy the day when Hafez takes the road to Baghdad.