With a rose in hand, wine in cup, and a beloved to delight: Ghazal 46 by Hafez

By @hamed | poet: Hafez Shirazi | 3 4

Description:

English Translation:

With a rose in hand, wine in cup, and a beloved to delight,
In such a day, the world's Sultan, is a slave to me.

Say, why bring a candle to this gathering, tonight,
When in our assembly, the moon of my love’s face is complete?

In our religion, wine is lawful, yet,
Without your face, O cypress-shaped beauty, it is forbidden.

My ear is all for the reed’s words and the lute’s melody,
My eye is all for the ruby of your lip and the wine cup’s turning.

Don’t mix any perfume in our gathering, for us,
Every moment we smell the sweet fragrance of your tresses.

Speak not of the sweetness of sugar or honey,
For I am satiated by the sweetness of your lips.

As long as the treasure of your grief resides in my ruined heart,
The tavern will always be my dwelling place.

Why speak of shame, when my name is shame itself,
And why ask of my name, when shame is my name?

I am a wine-drinker, bewildered, a rogue, and a gazer,
And who, in this city, is not like me?

Don’t speak ill of me to the moral police, for he too,
Is constantly, like me, in search of eternal pleasure.

Hafez, do not sit without wine and beloved even a moment,
When it is the time of roses, jasmine, and the Eid of Ramadan.