Ghazal 307

Every point I spoke in description of those features —

whoever heard it said: God bless the speaker!

The pursuit of love and revelry seemed easy at first —

in the end my soul was burned in acquiring these virtues.

Hallaj on the gallows sang this fine point sweetly:

They do not ask the jurist about such matters as these.

I said: When will you have mercy on my feeble soul?

She said: At that time when the soul is no longer a barrier between us.

I have given my heart to a beloved — mischievous, slender, a beauty —

of approved character and praiseworthy qualities.

In the very essence of seclusion I was, like your drunken eye —

and now I have become inclined to the drunkards, like your brow.

A hundred times I saw the flood of Noah from the water of my eyes —

and from the tablet of my breast, your image was never erased.

O friend, the hand of Hafez is a talisman against the evil eye —

O Lord, may I see it as an amulet around your neck.