Ghazal 392: Do you know what good fortune is? To see the face of the friend
دانی که چیست دولت؟ دیدار یار دیدن
در کوی او گدایی، بر خسروی گزیدن
از جان طمع بریدن آسان بود ولیکن
از دوستان جانی، مشکل توان بریدن
خواهم شدن به بستان، چون غنچه با دل تنگ
وآنجا به نیکنامی، پیراهنی دریدن
گه چون نسیم با گل، راز نهفته گفتن
گه سر عشقبازی، از بلبلان شنیدن
بوسیدن لب یار، اول ز دست مگذار
کآخر ملول گردی، از دست و لب گزیدن
فرصت شمار صحبت، کز این دوراهه منزل
چون بگذریم دیگر، نتوان به هم رسیدن
گویی برفت حافظ، از یاد شاه یحیی
یا رب به یادش آور، درویش پروریدن
Do you know what good fortune is? To see the face of the friend;
to choose beggary in his street over being a king.
To give up hope of life is easy, but
to cut oneself off from friends dear as life is hard.
I will go to the garden like the bud, with a straitened heart,
and there, in good repute, I will tear my shirt open.
Now, like the breeze, to tell hidden secrets to the rose;
now, to hear the mystery of love from the nightingales.
Do not, in the beginning, let slip the kissing of the friend's lip,
for in the end you will grow weary of biting your own hand and lip.
Count companionship an opportunity, for once we have passed on
from this halting place with its two roads, we cannot meet again.
It would seem that Hafez has gone from the memory of Shah Yahya;
O Lord, bring to his mind the cherishing of dervishes.
Interpretation of the fal
True good fortune is to see the friend, even at the price of giving up rank and position. Parting from close friends is hard: value their company while you can, for the chance does not come back. Do not put off until tomorrow what you can have today, so that you have no regrets. If someone has forgotten you, pray that they remember.