Ghazal 185

Will there come a day when they assay the coins?

So that all the cloister-keepers take up real work.

My considered opinion is that all friends should leave

every task and take hold of the curve of the beloved's tresses.

The companions took hold of the cupbearer's tresses' tip sweetly —

if fortune will let them, may they find some rest.

Do not sell the strength of your arm of abstinence before beauties,

for in this troop, a fortress is taken by a single horseman.

O Lord, how bold in blood these young Turks are —

with the arrows of their lashes, each moment they catch a prey.

Dancing to moist verse and the flute's lament is sweet —

especially a dance in which one takes the hand of a beauty.

Hafez, the people of this age have no care for the poor —

from their midst, if possible, one had best withdraw to a corner.