Hafez · Ghazal 316 · Do not give your curls to the wind
زلف بر باد مده تا ندهی بر بادمناز بنیاد مکن تا نکنی بنیادم
می مخور با همه کس تا نخورم خون جگرسر مکش تا نکشد سر به فلک فریادم
زلف را حلقه مکن تا نکنی در بندمطره را تاب مده تا ندهی بر بادم
یار بیگانه مشو تا نبری از خویشمغم اغیار مخور تا نکنی ناشادم
رخ برافروز که فارغ کنی از برگ گلمقد برافراز که از سرو کنی آزادم
شمع هر جمع مشو ور نه بسوزی ما رایاد هر قوم مکن تا نروی از یادم
شهره شهر مشو تا ننهم سر در کوهشور شیرین منما تا نکنی فرهادم
رحم کن بر من مسکین و به فریادم رستا به خاک در آصف نرسد فریادم
حافظ از جور تو حاشا که بگرداند رویمن از آن روز که در بند توام آزادم
This is a ghazal of gentle requests: be near, be steady, do not scatter yourself among everyone. Perhaps you are hoping for more constancy from someone, or need to ask for it plainly. Hafez shows that honest asking is not weakness. He also turns the request toward you: do not spend your light on every gathering, but give it where it is truly valued. And he ends with a paradox worth keeping, that a bond freely chosen can feel like freedom itself.
Do not give your curls to the wind, lest you give me to the wind;
do not lay the foundations of coquetry, lest you tear up mine.
Do not drink wine with everyone, lest I drink my heart's blood;
do not turn your head away, lest my cry rise up to the sky.
Do not twist your hair into rings, lest you put me in chains;
do not curl your forelock, lest you give me to the wind.
Do not be a stranger, friend, lest you take me from myself;
do not grieve for others, lest you make me sad.
Let your face glow, and free me from the rose's petals;
stand tall, and set me free of the cypress.
Do not be the candle of every gathering, or you will burn us;
do not think of every crowd, lest you slip from my thoughts.
Do not become the talk of the town, lest I lay my head on the mountain;
do not show Shirin's sweet passion, lest you make me a Farhad.
Have mercy on me, poor as I am, and answer my cry,
before my cry reaches the dust of Asaf's door.
Far be it that Hafez should turn his face from your cruelty;
since the day I fell into your bonds, I have been free.