Hafez · Ghazal 86 · The beloved has lifted the veil
ساقی بیا که یار ز رخ پرده برگرفتکار چراغ خلوتیان باز درگرفت
آن شمع سرگرفته دگر چهره برفروختوین پیر سال‌خورده جوانی ز سر گرفت
آن عشوه داد عشق که مفتی ز ره برفتوان لطف کرد دوست که دشمن حذر گرفت
زنهار از آن عبارت شیرین دل‌فریبگویی که پسته تو سخن در شکر گرفت
بار غمی که خاطر ما خسته کرده بودعیسی‌دمی خدا بفرستاد و برگرفت
هر سروقد که بر مه و خور حسن می‌فروختچون تو درآمدی پی کاری دگر گرفت
زین قصه هفت گنبد افلاک پرصداستکوته‌نظر ببین که سخن مختصر گرفت
حافظ تو این سخن ز که آموختی؟ که بختتعویذ کرد شعر تو را و به زر گرفت
After a time of darkness, a light is returning. Hafez describes a candle relit, an old man growing young, a weight of grief lifted by a healing breath. If you have been weary, this ghazal tells you that renewal is near and may come from an unexpected kindness. Let yourself be warmed by it. Others who once seemed brighter will matter less once the true light appears. Receive it gratefully, speak sweetly, and know that your own words, too, can become a blessing.
Saqi, come, for the beloved has lifted the veil from her face;
the lamp of those in seclusion has caught fire once again.
That snuffed-out candle has lit up its face once more,
and this aged old man has taken up his youth again.
Love gave such a charm that the mufti lost his way,
and the Friend showed such kindness that the enemy took care.
Beware of those sweet, heart-beguiling words!
It is as if your pistachio mouth had wrapped its speech in sugar.
The burden of grief that had wearied our mind,
God sent one with the breath of Jesus, and he lifted it away.
Every cypress-tall one who once outshone the moon and sun in beauty,
when you came in, went off to find some other work.
The seven domes of heaven are ringing with this story;
see how the short-sighted have taken it to be brief.
Hafez, from whom did you learn these words? For fortune
has made your verse an amulet and set it in gold.