Hafez · Ghazal 319 · For years I followed the rends
سال‌ها پیروی مذهب رندان کردمتا به فتوی خرد حرص به زندان کردم
من به سرمنزل عنقا نه به خود بردم راهقطع این مرحله با مرغ سلیمان کردم
سایه‌ای بر دل ریشم فکن ای گنج روانکه من این خانه به سودای تو ویران کردم
توبه کردم که نبوسم لب ساقی و کنونمی‌گزم لب که چرا گوش به نادان کردم
در خلاف‌آمد عادت بطلب کام! که منکسب جمعیت از آن زلف پریشان کردم
نقش مستوری و مستی نه به دست من و توستآن چه سلطان ازل گفت بکن، آن کردم
دارم از لطف ازل جنت فردوس طمعگرچه دربانی میخانه فراوان کردم
این که پیرانه‌سرم صحبت یوسف بنواختاجر صبریست که در کلبه احزان کردم
صبح‌خیزی و سلامت طلبی چون حافظهر چه کردم همه از دولت قرآن کردم
گر به دیوان غزل صدرنشینم چه عجب؟سال‌ها بندگی صاحب دیوان کردم
Hafez looks back on a long road and sees that he did not travel it alone: a wise guide, like Solomon's hoopoe, led him to the place he could not have reached by himself. He also tells you to seek your desire where custom does not expect it, as he found calm in a tangled curl. Patience kept in a house of sorrow was answered at last with the company of Joseph. Keep your quiet discipline and early-morning faithfulness; they are bearing fruit.
For years I followed the creed of the rends,
until, by the ruling of wisdom, I put greed in prison.
I did not find my own way to the Anqa's dwelling;
I crossed this stage of the road with Solomon's bird.
Cast your shadow over my wounded heart, O treasure of the soul,
for I have laid this house in ruins for love of you.
I vowed never to kiss the saqi's lip, and now
I bite my lip that I ever listened to a fool.
Seek your desire in what runs against custom, for I
found composure in that dishevelled curl.
Whether we are veiled in virtue or drunk is not in your hands or mine;
what the Sultan of eternity told me to do, that I did.
I hope, by the grace of eternity, for the garden of paradise,
though I have long kept the door of the tavern.
That in my old age the company of Joseph has honoured me
is the reward for the patience I kept in the hut of sorrows.
Rising at dawn and seeking well-being, like Hafez,
everything I did, I did by the blessing of the Qur'an.
If I sit in the place of honour at the court of the ghazal, why wonder?
For years I served the master of the court.