Hafez · Ghazal 401 · When I become the dust of his road
چون شوم خاک رهش دامن بیفشاند ز منور بگویم دل بگردان رو بگرداند ز من
روی رنگین را به هر کس می‌نماید همچو گلور بگویم بازپوشان بازپوشاند ز من
چشم خود را گفتم آخر یک نظر سیرش ببینگفت می‌خواهی مگر تا جوی خون راند ز من؟
او به خونم تشنه و من بر لبش تا چون شودکام بستانم از او یا داد بستاند ز من
گر چو فرهادم به تلخی جان برآید باک نیستبس حکایت‌های شیرین باز می‌ماند ز من
گر چو شمعش پیش میرم بر غمم خندان شودور برنجم خاطر نازک برنجاند ز من
دوستان جان داده‌ام بهر دهانش بنگریدکو به چیزی مختصر چون باز می‌ماند ز من
صبر کن حافظ که گر زین دست باشد درس غمعشق در هر گوشه‌ای افسانه‌ای خواند ز من
This is a ghazal of love not yet returned, and of the strange comedy of longing: every time the lover asks, the beloved turns away. If you feel unseen in something you care about, Hafez's counsel is in the last line: be patient. Even the bitterness of Farhad left behind sweet stories, and what you are living through now is shaping something lasting in you. Do not let a hard season make you bitter. Keep your heart gentle; the story is not yet finished.
When I become the dust of his road, he shakes his hem free of me;
and if I say, “Turn your heart,” he turns his face from me.
He shows his flushed face to everyone, like the rose,
and if I say, “Cover it,” he covers it only from me.
I told my eye: at last, look your fill at him just once;
it said: “Do you want a river of blood to flow from me?”
He thirsts for my blood and I for his lip; let us see how it ends:
whether I take my wish from him, or he takes his due from me.
If like Farhad my life departs in bitterness, I have no fear;
many sweet stories of Shirin will remain behind me.
If I die before him like a candle, he laughs at my grief;
and if I take offence, his delicate heart takes offence at me.
Friends, I have given my life for his mouth; look
how over so small a thing he still holds back from me.
Be patient, Hafez, for if the lesson of sorrow goes on like this,
love will tell a legend of me in every corner.