[A Persian painting by Mahmud Farshchian, showing Hafez, The Poet]
SELECTED RUBA’IYAT OF HAFIZ
THE CUP’S LIP
Never, never separated your lip make from the cup’s lip;
so your desire from world, you take from the cup’s lip.
Since in the world’s cup sweet and bitter are combined,
take this from Beloved’s lip, that take from the cup’s lip.
You said this: "I’m yours and so have no more concern,
make the heart joyful, to patience give all your concern."
What heart? Where’s patience? That which You call heart
is only a drop of blood and there is so much for concern.
SUCH CRUELTY
For loving the Beloved’s face, against me don’t complain:
against those with hearts full of misery, don’t complain.
Sufi, since you have knowledge of the wayfarers’ ways,
against the drinking man, with cruelty don’t complain.
NEITHER: NOR
Neither the tale about that candle of Chigil one can tell,
nor condition of the heart, burning still, one can tell:
in my tired heart there is grief because there’s no friend
who about grief which the heart does fill, one can tell.
Those lovely ones of the world one can bait with gold,
because of them, happily one can’t enjoy fate with gold.
See the narcissus that possesses the crown of the world
how its head also bends, from being straight, with gold.
A moon whose shape was straight like the tall cypress,
straightened her face while holding mirror in her caress.
When I offered her the handkerchief she then said this:
"You seek union? At least your imagination isn’t a mess!"
Loosener of knots and Awarder of heaven and of hell
don’t leave us, or from feet we’ll fall, You know well.
For how much longer will the wolves keep snatching?
Lion of God, show Your claws and the enemy dispel.
EXCEPT
Except Your image, nothing comes into that sight of ours,
except Your street, no other path holds delight of ours.
Although to all in Your time a sweet sleep does come,
God, I swear it never comes to eye, day or night, of ours.
You, Your eye: deceit and sorcery keep raining from it:
hey, many swords, war’s weaponry, keep raining from it.
Too quickly You became wearied and upset with friends;
Your heart: stones that do injury, keep raining from it.
Every friend who boasted about faith an enemy became:
every one with a spoiled garment, one of purity became.
They say: "Night is pregnant with the unknown." Strange!
Since she knew no man, how is it pregnant she became?
