Hafez · Ghazal 61 · Breeze, if you pass the Friend's country
صبا اگر گذری افتدت به کشور دوستبیار نفحه‌ای از گیسوی معنبر دوست
به جان او که به شکرانه جان برافشانماگر به سوی من آری پیامی از بر دوست
و گر چنان که در آن حضرتت نباشد باربرای دیده بیاور غباری از در دوست
من گدا و تمنای وصل او هیهاتمگر به خواب ببینم خیال منظر دوست
دل صنوبری‌ام همچو بید لرزان استز حسرت قد و بالای چون صنوبر دوست
اگر چه دوست به چیزی نمی‌خرد ما رابه عالمی نفروشیم مویی از سر دوست
چه باشد ار شود از بند غم دلش آزادچو هست حافظ مسکین غلام و چاکر دوست
You are longing for word from someone or something that feels far away, and you may doubt you are worthy of reaching it. Hafez knows that feeling: he calls himself a beggar who can only hope to see the beloved in a dream. Yet he does not give up. He asks the breeze for a message, and if not a message, a little dust from the door. Small signs are enough to keep love alive. Value what you love without measuring what it returns, and let your heart rest from grief.
O breeze, if your way should take you through the Friend's country,
bring a breath from the Friend's ambergris-scented tresses.
By His life, I will scatter my life in thanks
if you bring me a message from the Friend's side.
And if you are not admitted to that court,
bring, for my eyes, some dust from the Friend's door.
I, a beggar, longing for union with Him: how far-fetched!
Unless in a dream I see the image of the Friend's face.
My pine-cone heart trembles like the willow
with longing for the Friend's stature, tall as a pine.
Though the Friend would not buy us at any price,
we would not sell a hair of the Friend's head for the whole world.
What if his heart were set free from the bonds of grief,
since poor Hafez is the Friend's servant and slave?