An omen from Hafez
Ghazal 456
It is fresh spring — strive in this: to keep a glad heart,
for many a rose will bloom again, and you in the clay.
I say not now with whom to sit, or what to drink,
for you know yourself, if you are shrewd and wise.
The harp behind the veil gives you this same counsel; but
counsel profits you only then, when you are apt to hear.
In the meadow each leaf is a ledger of another state;
a pity, that you stay heedless of the whole affair.
The world's grief squanders the ready coin of your life,
if night and day you dwell in this troublesome tale.
Though the road from us to the Friend is fraught with fear,
the going is easy, if you know the stages well.
Hafez, if the aid of your high fortune stands by you,
you may yet be the quarry of that fair-featured beauty.