Ghazal 273

If you are a kind companion, be true to your pledge —

be the friend of home, bathhouse, and garden.

Do not give the curls of your disordered tresses to the wind's hand —

do not say: Let the lovers' minds be disordered.

If you wish to sit with Khidr,

be hidden from Alexander's eye, like the Water of Life.

Playing the psalms of love is not every bird's work —

come and be the fresh rose of this ghazal-singing nightingale.

The way of service and the manner of devotion —

for God's sake, leave that to us, and be the sovereign.

No more draw the sword to hunt the sanctuary's prey — beware —

and be regretful for what you have done to our heart.

You are the candle of the assembly — be one-tongued and one-hearted;

see the moth's devotion and effort, and be laughing.

The perfection of heart-ravishing and beauty lies in the art of the glance —

by the manner of the glance, be among the rare ones of the age.

Be silent, Hafez, and do not cry out from the beloved's cruelty —

who told you to be bewildered before a beautiful face?