Ghazal from Diwan of Hafiz There is the righteous one, here is ruined me.

See how far it is from one to the other! What link do piety and righteousness have to the rend's way? There is the sound of the sermon, here is the melody of the rabab. My heart grew weary of the cloister, the hypocrite's cloak. Where is the monastery of the Magi? Where is pure wine? The day of union are gone. Let them be a joyful memory. Where is that amorous glance? Where is that reproach? What can the enemy's heart find in my love's face? There is that dead lamp, here is this sun candle. Do not be seduced by her dimpled chin, there is a well in that road. Where are you going, Oh heart, in such a hurry? Since the kohl of our insight is the dust of your doorway, Please tell us, where do we go from this threshold? Do not cover rest and sleep from Hafiz, Oh friend. What is rest? Which is patience? And where is sleep?

Translated by Elizabeth Gray

"For years my heart inquired of me" For years my heart inquired of me Where Jamshid's sacred cup might be, And what was in its own possession It asked from strangers, constantly; Begging the pearl that's slipped its shell From lost souls wandering by the sea.

Last night I took my troubles to The Magian sage whose keen eyes see A hundred answers in the wine Whose cup he, laughing, showed to me. I questioned him, "When was this cup

That shows the world's reality

Handed to you?" He said, "The day Heaven's vault of lapis lazuli Was raised, and marvelous things took place By Intellect's divine decree, And Moses' miracles were made And Sameri's apostasy."

He added then, "That friend they hanged High on the looming gallows tree His sin was that he spoke of things Which should be pondered secretly, The page of truth his heart enclosed Was annotated publicly.

But if the Holy Ghost once more Should lend his aid to us we'd see Others perform what Jesus did Since in his heartsick anguish he Was unaware that God was there And called His name out ceaselessly."

I asked him next, "And beauties' curls That tumble down so sinuously, What is their meaning? Whence do they come?" "Hafez," the sage replied to me, "It's your distracted, lovelorn heart That asks these questions constantly."

Translated by D. Davis