Hafez · Ghazal 23 · Your image goes with us on every road
خیال روی تو در هر طریق همره ماستنسیم موی تو، پیوند جان آگه ماست
به رغم مدعیانی که منع عشق کنندجمال چهره تو، حجت موجه ماست
ببین که سیب زنخدان تو چه می‌گویدهزار یوسف مصری، فتاده در چه ماست
اگر به زلف دراز تو، دست ما نرسدگناه بخت پریشان و دست کوته ماست
به حاجب در خلوت‌سرای خاص بگوفلان ز گوشه‌نشینان خاک درگه ماست
به صورت از نظر ما اگر چه محجوب استهمیشه در نظر خاطر مرفه ماست
اگر به سالی حافظ دری زند، بگشایکه سال‌هاست که مشتاق روی چون مه ماست
What you love travels with you on every road, even when it seems out of reach. Hafez does not blame love when his hand falls short; he blames only scattered fortune, and he keeps faith. The closing couplets turn things around: the one who sits quietly in a corner is not forgotten, and is held in mind even when unseen. Take comfort in this. Keep your longing honest, and when the moment comes, knock. A door you have waited at for years may open more readily than you expect.
The image of your face travels with us on every road;
the scent of your hair keeps our wakeful soul bound to you.
In spite of the pretenders who forbid love,
the beauty of your face is our sound proof.
See what the apple of your chin is saying:
"A thousand Josephs of Egypt have fallen into our well."
If our hand cannot reach your long curl,
the fault lies with our scattered fortune and our short hand.
Tell the chamberlain at the door of the private quarters:
"So-and-so, of those who sit in corners, is the dust of our threshold."
Though in outward form he is hidden from our sight,
he is always before the eye of our contented mind.
If Hafez knocks at the door once in a year, open it,
for he has longed for years for our moonlike face.