Hafez · Ghazal 200 · Do you know what the harp and lute are saying?
دانی که چنگ و عود چه تقریر می‌کنند؟پنهان خورید باده که تعزیر می‌کنند
ناموس عشق و رونق عشاق می‌برندعیب جوان و سرزنش پیر می‌کنند
جز قلب تیره هیچ نشد حاصل و هنوزباطل در این خیال که اکسیر می‌کنند
گویند رمز عشق مگویید و مشنویدمشکل حکایتیست که تقریر می‌کنند
ما از برون در شده مغرور صد فریبتا خود درون پرده چه تدبیر می‌کنند
تشویش وقت پیر مغان می‌دهند بازاین سالکان نگر که چه با پیر می‌کنند
صد ملک دل به نیم نظر می‌توان خریدخوبان در این معامله تقصیر می‌کنند
قومی به جد و جهد نهادند وصل دوستقومی دگر حواله به تقدیر می‌کنند
فی‌الجمله اعتماد مکن بر ثبات دهرکـ‌این کارخانه‌ایست که تغییر می‌کنند
می خور که شیخ و حافظ و مفتی و محتسبچون نیک بنگری همه تزویر می‌کنند
Hafez looks around at a world of judgement and pretence and refuses to be troubled by it. If people's criticism or hidden plans are worrying you, he says: do not rely on anything staying the same, for this world is a workshop of constant change. Some reach their goal through effort, others through destiny; both have their place. Be gentle with human weakness, including your own, since everyone wears some mask. And remember that a little warmth goes a long way: half a glance of kindness can win a hundred hearts.
Do you know what the harp and the lute are saying?
"Drink your wine in secret, for they are handing out punishments."
They are taking away love's honour and the lustre of lovers;
they find fault with the young and reproach the old.
Nothing has come of it but counterfeit coin, and still
they vainly imagine they are making the elixir.
They say, "Do not speak or listen to the secret of love";
it is a hard tale that they are telling.
We, outside the door, have been taken in by a hundred deceits;
who knows what they are plotting behind the curtain?
Once again they trouble the hours of the Magian elder;
see what these wayfarers are doing to the elder!
A hundred kingdoms of the heart can be bought with half a glance;
the fair fall short in this bargain.
Some have staked union with the Friend on effort and striving;
others leave it to destiny.
In short, do not rely on the constancy of the world,
for this is a workshop where things are always changed.
Drink wine, for the shaykh and Hafez, the mufti and the muhtasib,
when you look closely, all of them deal in pretence.