Poems from the Divan of Hafiz
All hail, Shiraz, hail! oh site without peer! May God be the Watchman before thy gate, That the feet of Misfortune enter not here! Lest my Ruknabad be left desolate, A hundred times, “God forbid!” I pray; Its limpid stream where the shadows wait Like the fount of Khizr giveth life for aye.
’Twixt Jafrabad and Mosalla’s close Flies the north wind laden with ambergris— Oh, come to Shiraz when the north wind blows! There abideth the angel Gabriel’s peace With him who is lord of its treasures; the fame Of the sugar of Egypt shall fade and cease, For the breath of our beauties has put it to shame.
Oh wind that blows from the sun-rising, What news of the maid with the drunken eyes, What news of the lovely maid dost thou bring? Bid me not wake from my dream and arise, In dreams I have rested my head at her feet— When stillness unbroken around me lies, The vision of her makes my solitude sweet.
If for wine the Cup-bearer pour forth my blood, As the milk from a mother’s bosom flows, At his word let my heart yield its crimson flood. But, Hafiz, Hafiz! thou art of those For ever fearing lest absence be near; For the days when thou held’st the Beloved close, Why rise not thy thanks so that all may hear?