Ghazal 162

The rose has come — how pleasant! And nothing could be pleasanter

than having only a goblet in your hand.

Seize the time of happiness and find the pearl,

for the pearl is not always in the shell.

Count it a windfall and drink wine in the rosegarden,

for the rose will not be here another week.

O you who have filled the golden cup with rubies —

have pity on one who has no gold.

Come, O sheikh, and from our tavern

drink a wine that is not to be found in the River of Paradise.

Wash your pages if you are our classmate,

for the knowledge of love is not found in books.

Hear me and bind your heart to a beauty

whose loveliness is not dependent on ornament.

Grant me, O Lord, a wine without hangover —

one that comes with no headache at all.

With all my soul I am the servant of Sultan Oveys,

though he may not remember his servant.

By his world-adorning crown — the sun itself

is not so becoming in a diadem.

Whoever finds fault with the verse of Hafez

has no grace in his own nature.