Ghazal 360

If from this ruined way-station I go toward home,

then wherever I go, I will go wise and sagely.

If from this journey I return safely to my homeland,

I have vowed to go straight from the road to the tavern.

So that I may tell what was revealed to me from this path and practice,

I will go to the monastery door with lute and flask.

If the initiates of the road of love should drink my blood,

I am base if I go with complaint to a stranger.

After this, my hand and the beloved's chain-like tresses —

how long and long shall I go after the mad heart's desire?

If I see the curve of her prayer-niche brow again,

I will prostrate in thanks and go after the offering.

Blessed that moment when, like Hafez, by devotion to the vizier,

I go merry from the tavern with the friend to home.