Every seeker knows, Ghazaliyat of Hafez Ghazal 047

Ghazal 047 from Divan of Hafez

Every seeker who knows the way to the tavern
Has considered it unwise to knock on another door.

Time has bestowed the crown of roguery on none
But one who has understood that the world's glory is in this cap.

Whoever found a path to the tavern's threshold
Learned the secrets of the monastery from the cup of wine's bounty.

Whoever read the secrets of both worlds from the wine cup’s line
Learned the mysteries of the Jamshid’s cup from the dust of the path.

Don’t ask us for anything beyond the devotion of the mad,
For our religious scholar considers wisdom to be a sin.

My heart did not seek safety from the glances of the wine-server’s eye,
For it knew the ways of that black-hearted Turk.

From the cruelty of the morning star, my eyes wept so much
That Venus and the moon knew it.

The tale of Hafez and the cup, which he tells in secret,
Even the king knows, let alone the moral police and the bailiff.

The high-ranking king, whose nine-domed sky
Is a mere sample of the arch of his royal court.