Ghazal 30

Your tress bound a thousand hearts with a single hair —

it blocked the path of a thousand healers from every side.

So that lovers might give their lives for its fragrance,

it opened a musk-pod and closed the door of desire.

I became mad because my idol, like the new moon,

showed her brow and displayed her splendor, then hid her face.

The cupbearer poured wine into the cup in many hues —

see what lovely patterns were sealed inside the gourd.

O Lord, what flirtation did the wine flask make, that the blood of the vat

was caught in its throat with the sound of its bubbling cries?

What mode did the minstrel play, that in the curtain of ecstatic dance

it sealed the door of rapture upon those lost in feeling?

Hafez! Whoever sought union without practicing love

bound the pilgrim’s garb for the Ka’ba of the heart without ablution.