An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 222
Whoever leaves the head of your street in bitterness,
his labor never prospers, and he departs at last in shame.
A caravan whose outrider is the shelter of God
travels in splendor and arrives in majesty.
By the light of guidance the wayfarer finds the road to the Friend,
for he arrives nowhere who journeys astray.
At life's ebb, take your fill of wine and the Beloved;
what a waste of hours that pass wholly in idleness.
O guide of the lost heart, for God's sake, some aid —
for the stranger, if he lose the road, must go by another's leading.
The verdict on your chastity and your drunkenness rests all upon your end;
none has known in what state, at the last, he will depart.
Hafez, from the fountain of wisdom bring a goblet to your hand,
that from the tablet of your heart the imprint of ignorance may fade.