Hafez · Ghazal 347 · What can I do, my idol?
صنما با غم عشق تو چه تدبیر کنم؟تا به کی در غم تو ناله شبگیر کنم؟
دل دیوانه از آن شد که نصیحت شنودمگرش هم ز سر زلف تو زنجیر کنم
آن چه در مدت هجر تو کشیدم هیهاتدر یکی نامه محال است که تحریر کنم
با سر زلف تو مجموع پریشانی خودکو مجالی که سراسر همه تقریر کنم؟
آن زمان کآرزوی دیدن جانم باشددر نظر نقش رخ خوب تو تصویر کنم
گر بدانم که وصال تو بدین دست دهددین و دل را همه دربازم و توفیر کنم
دور شو از برم ای واعظ و بیهوده مگویمن نه آنم که دگر گوش به تزویر کنم
نیست امید صلاحی ز فساد حافظچون که تقدیر چنین است، چه تدبیر کنم؟
Hafez asks what remedy there is for the ache of love, and in the end he accepts that some things are simply written into who we are. If you have been trying to argue yourself out of a feeling, or listening to advice that only made you more restless, this verse suggests a gentler path. Accept your heart as it is. When you long for what is absent, hold its image kindly before you. Not every longing needs fixing; some need only to be honoured.
O idol, what remedy can I find for the grief of loving you?
How long shall I cry out at night in sorrow for you?
My heart went mad because it listened to advice;
perhaps I should chain it with the tip of your curl.
What I endured while you were away, alas,
it is impossible to write down in a single letter.
The whole of my distraction, along with the tip of your curl,
where is the time to tell it all, from beginning to end?
Whenever my soul longs to see you,
I paint the image of your lovely face before my eyes.
If I knew that union with you could be won this way,
I would gamble away faith and heart entirely, and count it a gain.
Get away from me, preacher, and do not talk nonsense;
I am not one to lend my ear to hypocrisy again.
There is no hope of reform for Hafez's waywardness;
since this is how fate is written, what remedy can I find?