Hafez · Ghazal 419 · Union with her is better
وصال او ز عمر جاودان بهخداوندا مرا آن ده که آن به
به شمشیرم زد و با کس نگفتمکه راز دوست از دشمن نهان به
به داغ بندگی مردن بر این دربه جان او که از ملک جهان به
خدا را از طبیب من بپرسیدکه آخر کی شود این ناتوان به؟
گلی کآن پایمال سرو ما گشتبود خاکش ز خون ارغوان به
به خلدم دعوت ای زاهد! مفرماکه این سیب زنخ، زآن بوستان به
دلا! دائم گدای کوی او باشبه حکم آن که دولت جاودان به
جوانا! سر متاب از پند پیرانکه رأی پیر از بخت جوان به
شبی می‌گفت چشم کس ندیده‌ستز مروارید گوشم در جهان به
اگر چه زنده‌رود آب حیات استولی شیراز ما از اصفهان به
سخن اندر دهان دوست شکرولیکن گفته حافظ از آن به
Hafez asks for one thing only: "Lord, give me what is best." That is a good prayer to carry with you now, rather than insisting on a particular outcome. Keep private what is precious to you; not every hope needs to be told. Listen carefully to an older, wiser voice before you act. And value what is near and your own, the Shiraz of your life, above the distant river that others praise. What is truly best has a way of becoming clear.
Union with her is better than eternal life;
Lord, give me that which is best.
She struck me with a sword and I told no one,
for the Friend's secret is better hidden from the enemy.
To die at this door with the brand of her servant
is better, by her life, than the kingdom of the world.
For God's sake, ask my physician:
when, at last, will this weak one be better?
The rose that has been trodden under our cypress's foot:
its dust is better than the blood of the Judas tree.
O zahid, do not invite me to paradise,
for this apple of the chin is better than that orchard.
O heart, be forever a beggar in her street,
for, as they say, a lasting fortune is better.
Young man, do not turn your head from the counsel of the old,
for an old man's judgement is better than young fortune.
One night she said, "No one's eye in the world has seen
anything better than the pearl in my ear."
Though the Zayandeh Rud is the water of life,
our Shiraz is better than Isfahan.
Words in the Friend's mouth are sugar,
but what Hafez has said is better still.