Ghazal 313

Come back, O cupbearer, for I am devoted to your service —

longing for servitude and praying for your fortune.

Since the grace of the cup of felicity is your radiance,

come forth and show me a way out of the darkness of my bewilderment.

Though I am drowning in the sea of sin from a hundred sides,

since I became acquainted with love, I am among the people of mercy.

Do not fault me for revelry and ill-repute, O sage —

for this was my destiny, written in the register of fate.

Drink wine — for love is not by effort or choice —

this gift arrived from the inheritance of nature.

I, who in all my life never chose travel over home,

in love of seeing you I now desire exile.

The sea and the mountain are in the way, and I am weary and weak —

O Khidr of auspicious step, aid me with your aspiration.

I am far in form from the door of your palace of fortune —

but in soul and heart, I am among the residents of your presence.

Hafez wishes to surrender his life before your eyes —

I am in this fancy, if life grants me the reprieve.