An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 250
Show your face, and bear my very being from my mind;
say to the harvest of the burnt ones: let the wind sweep it all away.
Since we have given heart and eye to the flood of calamity,
say: come, torrent of grief, and sweep the house from its foundation.
Who would breathe the tress like raw ambergris? Alas!
O heart of raw craving, bear this thought from your mind.
Say to the breast: quench the flame of the fire-temple of Fars;
say to the eye: bear off the honor of the Tigris of Baghdad.
Long endure the fortune of the Magian Elder — the rest is trifling;
say to another: begone, and bear my name from your mind.
With no effort borne, on this road you reach nowhere;
if you seek a wage, render the service of the master.
On the day of my death, grant me one breath's promise of the tryst,
and then bear me, free and unburdened, to the grave.
Last night she was saying: I will slay you with my long lashes;
O Lord, bear from her mind the very thought of wrong.
Hafez, take heed of the delicacy of the Friend's mind;
go, and bear from her court this wailing and this cry.