Hafez · Ghazal 380 · Many times I have said it
بارها گفته‌ام و بار دگر می‌گویمکه من دل‌شده این ره، نه به خود می‌پویم
در پس آینه، طوطی‌صفتم داشته‌اندآن چه استاد ازل گفت بگو، می‌گویم
من اگر خارم و گر گل چمن‌آرایی هستکه از آن دست که او می‌کشدم، می‌رویم
دوستان! عیب من بی‌دل حیران مکنیدگوهری دارم و صاحب نظری می‌جویم
گر چه با دلق ملمع، می گلگون عیب استمکنم عیب کزو رنگ ریا می‌شویم
خنده و گریه عشاق ز جایی دگر استمی‌سرایم به شب و وقت سحر می‌مویم
حافظم گفت که «خاک در میخانه مبوی»گو «مکن عیب که من مشک ختن می‌بویم»
You are not walking your road entirely by your own design, and that can be a comfort. Hafez says that, whether thorn or rose, he grows as the gardener's hand leads him, and speaks the words his Teacher gives him. You carry something of real worth; what you need is not to change it but to find someone with the eye to see it. Do not be troubled by those who misunderstand your laughter or your tears. Trust the hand that is shaping you, and keep looking for the one who recognises your jewel.
Many times I have said it, and I say it once again:
heart-lost, I do not walk this road of my own accord.
They have kept me like a parrot behind the mirror;
what the Master of eternity told me to say, I say.
Whether I am a thorn or a rose, there is one who tends the meadow,
and as his hand draws me up, so I grow.
Friends, do not find fault with me, heartless and bewildered;
I have a jewel, and I am looking for someone with an eye for it.
Though rose-coloured wine is a fault in one who wears the patched cloak,
do not fault me, for with it I wash away the colour of hypocrisy.
The laughter and tears of lovers come from another place:
I sing at night, and at dawn I mourn.
Hafez told me: “Do not sniff the dust of the tavern door”;
tell him: “Do not find fault, for I smell the musk of Khotan.”