An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 176
At dawn wide-waking fortune came and stood beside my pillow;
it said: Arise, for that sweet Khosrow of your heart has come.
Drain down a cup, and merry-souled go strolling to the show,
that you may see in what fair guise your idol has come near.
Bring me the joyful news, O recluse who unseals the pod of musk,
that from Khotan's far desert the musk-breathing gazelle has come.
Weeping has brought the water back to the faces of the burnt;
lament, that rescuer of the poor lover, has come at last.
The bird of the heart once more courts a beloved with brows like a bow;
O dove, keep watch and be wary, for the falcon has come.
Cupbearer, pour the wine, and grieve not over foe or friend,
for, to our heart's desire, that one has gone, and this has come.
When the cloud of spring beheld the faithless custom of the days,
its weeping fell upon the jasmine, the hyacinth, the wild rose.
When the breeze had heard the words of Hafez from the nightingale,
it came, all scattering ambergris, to gaze on the sweet herbs of spring.