Hafez · Ghazal 488 · The voice from the tavern
سحرم هاتف میخانه به دولت‌خواهیگفت: باز آی که دیرینه این درگاهی
همچو جم جرعه ما کش که ز سر دو جهانپرتو جام جهان‌بین دهدت آگاهی
بر در میکده، رندان قلندر باشندکه ستانند و دهند افسر شاهنشاهی
خشت، زیر سر و بر تارک هفت‌اختر پایدست قدرت نگر و منصب صاحب‌جاهی
سر ما و در میخانه که طرف بامشبه فلک بر شد و دیوار بدین کوتاهی
قطع این مرحله بی‌همرهی خضر مکنظلمات است، بترس از خطر گمراهی
اگرت سلطنت فقر ببخشند، ای دل!کمترین ملک تو از ماه بود تا ماهی
تو دم فقر ندانی زدن از دست مدهمسند خواجگی و مجلس تورانشاهی
حافظ خام‌طمع! شرمی از این قصه بدارعملت چیست که فردوس برین می‌خواهی؟
A voice at dawn calls you back: you belong here, it says, you are an old familiar. If you have drifted from something that once gave you meaning, this may be a gentle invitation to return. Hafez admires those who are humble on the outside yet rich within, with a brick for a pillow and their feet among the stars. He counsels you not to cross a dark stretch alone; seek a wise guide. And he adds, with a smile at himself, that humility suits the seeker better than great demands.
At dawn the voice from the tavern, wishing me well,
said, "Come back, for you are an old familiar of this court."
Like Jamshid, drink a draught of ours, so that of the secret of both worlds
the ray of the world-seeing cup may give you knowledge.
At the tavern door there are qalandar rends
who take away and give the crown of the king of kings.
A brick beneath the head, and a foot on the crown of the seven stars:
see the hand of power and the rank of true dignity!
I lay my head at the tavern door, whose roof
rises to the heavens, though its wall is so low.
Do not cross this stage without Khezr for company;
it is darkness: beware the danger of losing the way.
If you are granted the kingdom of poverty, O heart,
your smallest domain will reach from the moon to the fish.
If you cannot truly speak of poverty, do not let go of
the seat of the master and the court of Turanshah.
Hafez, raw in your greed, be a little ashamed of this tale:
what are your deeds, that you ask for the highest paradise?