They say a stone becomes a ruby in the station of patience; yes, it does, but with the blood of the liver.
گویند سنگ لعل شود در مقام صبر / آری شود ولیک به خون جگر شود
Gûyend seng la'l şeved der makâm-ı sabr / Ârî şeved velîk be-hûn-ı ciger şeved.
Hafez, Divan, ghazal 226, couplet 2 (Ganjoor numbering); 14th century.
They say a stone that is patient becomes a ruby.
Hafez does not object.
It does, he says.
Then he names the price:
With the blood of the liver.
Whoever says this knows it.
People love the first half of the saying.
Wait, and you will grow beautiful.
The second half silences.
The waiting stone
takes its color from its own blood.
What we call worth
is often
the trace of a bleeding.