Ghazal 87

Your beauty, combined with charm, has conquered the world —

yes, by unity one can conquer the world.

The candle was about to reveal the secret of the recluses —

thanks be to God, its heart’s secret caught in its tongue.

From this hidden fire within my breast,

the sun is but a flame that caught in the sky.

The rose wished to boast of the color and scent of the friend —

but the morning breeze, from jealousy, caught the breath in its mouth.

I was resting peacefully at the edge, like a compass —

but time, like the point, in the end caught me in the center.

That day the longing for the wine-cup burned my harvest,

when fire from the reflection of the cupbearer’s cheek caught in it.

I intend to go to the Magian quarter, sleeves fluttering,

because of the upheavals that have caught the hem of the end-times.

Drink wine — for whoever saw the end of the world’s work

rose lightly from grief and took up the heavy cup.

On the rose-petal, in the blood of anemones, they have written:

The one who is ripe has taken the deep red wine.

Hafez, since the water of grace drips from your verse,

how can the envious find fault with it?