Hafez · Ghazal 197 · If the beauties win hearts like this
شاهدان گر دلبری زین سان کنندزاهدان را رخنه در ایمان کنند
هر کجا آن شاخ نرگس بشکفدگل‌رخانش دیده نرگس‌دان کنند
ای جوان سروقد! گویی ببرپیش از آن کز قامتت چوگان کنند
عاشقان را بر سر خود حکم نیستهر چه فرمان تو باشد آن کنند
پیش چشمم کمتر است از قطره‌ایاین حکایت‌ها که از طوفان کنند
یار ما چون گیرد آغاز سماعقدسیان بر عرش دست‌افشان کنند
مردم چشمم به خون آغشته شددر کجا این ظلم بر انسان کنند؟
خوش برآ با غصه، ای دل! کاهل رازعیش خوش در بوته هجران کنند
سر مکش حافظ ز آه نیم‌شبتا چو صبحت، آینه رخشان کنند
Hafez asks you to bear your difficulty with a glad heart, because those who know love's secret find their sweetness in the very crucible of separation. Your midnight sighs are not wasted; they polish the mirror of your heart until it shines like the dawn. At the same time, he urges you not to wait too long: while you still stand tall like a young cypress, win the ball, take your chance. Patience and courage belong together. Hold on gently through this season, and act when the moment is yours.
If the beauties win hearts in this way,
they will break a breach in the faith of the zahids.
Wherever that narcissus branch comes into bloom,
the rose-cheeked will make their eyes its vase.
O cypress-tall young one, win the ball now,
before they bend your stature into a polo-stick.
Lovers have no command over their own heads;
whatever you command, that is what they do.
In my eyes, these tales they tell about the Flood
are less than a single drop.
When our beloved begins the sama' dance,
the holy ones upon the Throne clap their hands.
The pupil of my eye is soaked in blood;
where is such cruelty done to a human being?
Bear grief gladly, O heart, for the people of the secret
find their sweet joy in the crucible of separation.
Hafez, do not turn away from the midnight sigh,
so that, like the dawn, they may make your mirror shine.