Hafez · Ghazal 480 · You who show no mercy
ای که در کشتن ما هیچ مدارا نکنیسود و سرمایه بسوزی و محابا نکنی
دردمندان بلا زهر هلاهل دارندقصد این قوم خطا باشد هان تا نکنی
رنج ما را که توان برد به یک گوشه چشمشرط انصاف نباشد که مداوا نکنی
دیده ما چو به امید تو دریاست، چرابه تفرج گذری بر لب دریا نکنی؟
نقل هر جور که از خلق کریمت کردندقول صاحب غرضان است تو آن‌ها نکنی
بر تو گر جلوه کند شاهد ما ای زاهداز خدا جز می و معشوق تمنا نکنی
حافظا سجده به ابروی چو محرابش برکه دعایی ز سر صدق جز آن جا نکنی
Hafez reminds the beloved how little it would take to heal a great deal: a single glance, a short walk along the shore. Perhaps there is a rift in your life that could be mended by one small gesture, from you or towards you. He also refuses to believe the unkind stories others tell; those, he says, are the words of people with their own motives. Give the benefit of the doubt where you can, offer the small kindness that heals, and let your prayers rise from a sincere heart.
O you who show no mercy in killing me,
who burn profit and capital alike and spare nothing,
those who suffer affliction carry a deadly poison;
to set out against such people is a mistake: take care you do not.
Our pain, which a single glance from the corner of your eye could carry off:
it is not fair that you will not heal it.
Since, in hope of you, our eyes have become a sea, why
do you not stroll along the shore of that sea to take the air?
The tales of every cruelty told about your noble nature
are the words of the self-interested; you do not do such things.
If our beloved should show herself to you, O zahid,
you would ask God for nothing but wine and the beloved.
Hafez, bow down before her eyebrow, curved like a mihrab,
for nowhere else will you offer a prayer with a sincere heart.