Hafez · Ghazal 371 · Our dawn lesson on the tavern road
ما درس سحر در ره میخانه نهادیممحصول دعا در ره جانانه نهادیم
در خرمن صد زاهد عاقل زند آتشاین داغ که ما بر دل دیوانه نهادیم
سلطان ازل گنج غم عشق به ما دادتا روی در این منزل ویرانه نهادیم
در دل ندهم ره پس از این مهر بتان رامهر لب او بر در این خانه نهادیم
در خرقه از این بیش منافق نتوان بودبنیاد از این شیوه رندانه نهادیم
چون می‌رود این کشتی سرگشته که آخرجان در سر آن گوهر یک دانه نهادیم
المنة لله که چو ما بی‌دل و دین بودآن را که لقب عاقل و فرزانه نهادیم
قانع به خیالی ز تو بودیم چو حافظیا رب چه گداهمت و بیگانه نهادیم
Hafez has staked everything on one matchless pearl, and the treasure he received was found, as treasures are, in a ruin. If your life feels like a wandering ship, remember that real wealth is often hidden in places others overlook. He has stopped pretending and chosen honesty over a borrowed cloak. You too may set aside appearances and give your devotion to what truly matters. Do not settle for only a fancy of what you love; let your hope be large enough to reach for the real thing.
We laid our dawn lesson on the tavern road,
and laid the harvest of our prayers on the beloved's road.
It will set fire to the harvest of a hundred wise ascetics,
this brand we have set upon our mad heart.
The Sultan of eternity gave us the treasure of love's sorrow
once we turned our face to this ruined lodging.
From now on I will let no love of idols into my heart;
we have set the seal of his lip on the door of this house.
In the dervish cloak no one could be more of a hypocrite than this;
so we have laid our foundation on the rendi way.
How will this wandering ship go on, now that in the end
we have staked our life on that one matchless pearl?
Thanks be to God that, like us, without heart or faith, was
the one to whom we gave the title of wise and learned.
Like Hafez, we were content with only a fancy of you;
Lord, how low our ambition, and what strangers we have been!