Hafez · Ghazal 406 · You went out to see the new moon
گفتا برون شدی به تماشای ماه نواز ماه ابروان منت شرم باد رو
عمری‌ست تا دلت ز اسیران زلف ماستغافل ز حفظ جانب یاران خود مشو
مفروش عطر عقل به هندوی زلف ماکان‌جا هزار نافه مشکین به نیم‌جو
تخم وفا و مهر در این کهنه کشته‌زارآن‌گه عیان شود که بود موسم درو
ساقی بیار باده که رمزی بگویمتاز سر اختران کهن‌سیر و ماه نو
شکل هلال هر سر مه می‌دهد نشاناز افسر سیامک و ترک کلاه زو
حافظ جناب پیر مغان مأمن وفاستدرس حدیث عشق بر او خوان و زو شنو
Faithfulness, Hafez says, is like seed sown in an old field: you cannot see it grow until the harvest comes. If you have been loyal and are still waiting for that loyalty to bear fruit, do not doubt it. Kings and crowns have come and gone like the phases of the moon, but what is sown in love endures. Do not trade away what you truly value for clever reasoning, and do not neglect the friends beside you. Seek out someone wise and faithful, and learn the lessons of love from them.
She said: “You went out to look at the new moon;
be ashamed before the moon of my eyebrows, and go.”
“For a lifetime your heart has been a captive of our curl;
do not forget to guard the side of your friends.”
“Do not try to sell the perfume of reason to our dark curl,
for there a thousand musk-pods go for half a barley-grain.”
The seed of faithfulness and love in this ancient field
shows itself only when the season of harvest comes.
Saqi, bring wine, so I may tell you a mystery
from the secret of the old wandering stars and the new moon.
The crescent's shape, at the start of every month, brings word
of Siamak's crown and the peak of Zav's cap.
Hafez, the Magian elder's court is the refuge of faithfulness;
recite the lesson of love's story before him, and hear it from him.