An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 357
In the Magians' tavern I behold the light of God;
behold this wonder — what a light I see, and from what quarter!
Vaunt not your splendour to me, O lord of the Pilgrimage, for you
see the House, and I behold the Lord of the House.
I would open the musk-pod from the tress of the idols;
the thought is far — indeed, I see it as a wandering astray.
The burning of the heart, the flowing tear, the dawn-sigh, the night-wail —
all this I see through the grace of your regard.
At each moment the image of your face waylays my fancy;
to whom shall I tell what things I behold behind this veil?
None has ever seen, in the musk of Khotan or the pod of China,
that which every dawn I behold from the breath of the east wind.
Friends, do not find fault with the glance-play of Hafez,
for I see him as one of your own lovers.