An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 104
May your beauty be the sun of every gaze that seeks it;
and lovelier still than loveliness may your fair face be.
To the Huma of your tress, on its falcon-plumed wing,
may the hearts of the kings of the world lie humbled beneath.
Whoever is not held a captive fast bound to your tress,
let him be, like your tress, dishevelled and turned upside down.
A heart that is not the lover of your countenance,
let it be drowned forever in the life-blood of grief.
O idol, when your glance lets fly its arrow,
let my wounded heart stand shield before its flight.
When your sugared ruby lip bestows a single kiss,
may my soul's whole palate brim with the sweetness of it.
From you, each moment, a fresh love is born in me;
and in you, each hour, may a new beauty arise.
Hafez, with all his soul, is the yearner for your face;
cast down one glance, then, on the state of those who yearn.