An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 198
I said: when will your mouth and lip bring gladness to this heart of mine?
She said: 'At your command—whatever you may bid, so shall it be.'
I said: your lip demands of me the whole revenue of Egypt's land;
she said: 'In such a trade as this one comes off with the lesser loss.'
I said: to that mere point, your mouth, who ever found the hidden road?
She said: 'This is a tale one tells to the connoisseur of subtleties.'
I said: worship no carven idol—sit with the Eternal One alone;
she said: 'Along the street of love men do both this and that as well.'
I said: the tavern's very air bears grief and sorrow from the heart;
she said: 'How blest are those, indeed, who make one heart rejoice and glad.'
I said: the wine and dervish-cloak are not the rite of holy law;
she said: 'This deed men freely do within the Magian Elder's creed.'
I said: what profit to the old from the ruby of the honey-lipped?
she said: 'With one sweet sugared kiss they turn him back to youth again.'
I said: and when shall the great lord go up into the bridal-bower?
she said: 'When Jupiter above draws close in union with the moon.'
I said: the prayer for her good fortune is the litany of Hafez' tongue;
she said: 'This very prayer is raised by all the angels of the seven heavens.'