An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 363
My anguish comes from the Friend, and from her the healing too;
my heart became her sacrifice, and my very soul thereto.
That which they name a sweeter thing than beauty's very self —
our Friend possesses this, and that other grace thereto.
Be it remembered how, athirst to shed our very blood,
she snapped the compact clean in two, and the covenant thereto.
Friends, behind the veil I speak the word I have to say;
yet it shall be told out openly in the world's own tongue thereto.
Now that the fortune of the nights of union has run out,
the days of parting too shall pass and fade away thereto.
Both worlds are but a single gleam that shines from her one face;
I told you this made manifest, and hidden deep thereto.
There is no trusting in the workings of this passing world,
nor in the ever-turning wheel of heaven's sphere thereto.
The lover fears no magistrate — bring wine, and bring it now —
nor yet the tribunal of the court that judges men thereto.
The constable well knows that Hafez is a man in love,
and the Asaf of Solomon's own realm knows it thereto.