Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz

by Dick Davis

  My life’s flashed by in longing for you

  As lightning splits the night.

  Seize these few moments while we’ve still

  Time for our promised meeting,

  Since no one knows what life will bring

  And life, my dear, is fleeting.

  How long shall we enjoy our dawns’

  Sweet sleep, our morning wine?

  Wake up, and think of this! Since life’s

  Not yours for long, or mine.

  She passed by yesterday, but gave

  Me not a glance, not one;

  My wretched heart, you’ve witnessed nothing

  As life’s passed by, and gone.

  But those whose lives are centered on

  Your lovely mouth confess

  No other thoughts than this, and think

  Nothing of Nothingness.

  An ambush waits on every side

  Wherever we might tread,

  And so life’s rider rides slack-reined,

  Giving his horse its head.

  I’ve lived my life without a life –

  Don’t be surprised at this;

  Who counts an absence as a life

  When life is what you miss?

  Speak Hafez! On the world’s page trace

  Your poems’ narrative;

  The words your pen writes will have life

  When you no longer live.

  OF ALL THE ROSES IN THE WORLD

  A rosy face…is quite enough for me;

  Beneath this swaying cypress tree

  A shady place…is quite enough for me.

  May hypocrites find somewhere else

  To cant and prate –

  Of all this weighty world, a full

  Wine-glass’s weight…is quite enough for me.

  They hand out heaven for good deeds!

  The monastery

  Where Magians live is better for

  A sot like me…that’s quite enough for me.

  Sit by this stream and watch as life

  Flows swiftly on –

  This emblem of the world that’s all

  Too quickly gone…is quite enough for me.

  See how the world’s bazaar pays cash,

  See the world’s pain –

  And if you’re not content with this

  World’s loss and gain…they’re quite enough for me.

  My friend is here with me – what more

  Should I desire?

  The riches of our talk are all

  That I require…they’re quite enough for me.

  Don’t send me from your door, O God,

  To paradise –

  For me, to wait here at Your street’s

  End will suffice…that’s quite enough for me.

  Hafez, don’t rail against your fate!

  Your nature flows,

  As does your verse, like water as

  It comes and goes…that’s quite enough for me.

  A LOVING FRIEND, GOOD WINE, A PLACE SECURE

  From enemies –

  What luck is yours if you can always lay

  Your hands on these!

  The world, with all its works, amounts to nothing,

  With naught inside it –

  A thousand times I’ve puzzled over this

  And verified it.

  Alas that I was ignorant till now –

  But now I’m sure

  The alchemy of joy’s the friend, the friend

  And nothing more.

  Go somewhere safe, treasure the time you’re given,

  See you enjoy it –

  Since bandits lie in wait to snatch your life,

  And they’ll destroy it.

  Come now – repentance over ruby lips

  And wine’s red smile

  Is just a whim, and one that Reason can’t

  Count as worthwhile.

  And if your slender waist’s not destined for

  The likes of me,

  I still know happiness when I invoke

  Its memory;

  And then your chin, that’s so delectable

  And sweet I swear

  A hundred thousand fancies could not plumb

  The dimple there…

  My tears are ruby-red, but that should come

  As no surprise –

  Your lips are ruby-red, it’s tears for them

  That fill my eyes.

  He laughed, “Hafez, I am the slave of your

  Poetic nature –

  Look what an utter fool he takes me for,

  A stupid creature!”

  LAST NIGHT THE WINE-SELLER, A MAN

  Of great experience,

  Conversed with me (and here I share

  With you his secret sense):

  “Go easy on yourself – the world’s

  Harsh nature is to be

  Hard on the man who’s hard upon

  Himself continually.”

  And then he gave me such a glass

  Of wine its flashing light

  Made Venus dance in heaven, and strike

  Her lute in shared delight,

  And cry, “Good health!” And he went on:

  “Listen my boy, draw near,

  Let sorrow go, take my advice,

  If you have ears to hear;

  And if your heart is red with blood,

  Smile as red wine will smile;

  Don’t cry out like a harp’s strings, though

  You’re grieving all the while.

  Until you pass this veil you can’t

  Arrive at what is hidden;

  To impure ears Sorush’s words

  Must still remain forbidden.

  But when it comes to love, life’s all

  A listening and a speaking –

  We must be then all open eyes

  And ears forever seeking;

  And self-promotion’s not the mode

  A clever man employs –

  Speak if you’ve knowledge, otherwise

  See that you make no noise!”

  Bring wine! Asef, the Lord of Time,

  Who’s gracious and forgiving,

  Already knows the dissipation

  In which Hafez is living.

  LOVE’S ROAD’S AN ENDLESS ROAD

  where there’s no place to rest,

  Where souls must sacrifice

  themselves, and not protest;

  Each moment that you give

  your heart to love is good,

  And there’s no need to see

  what omens might suggest;

  So take the libertine’s

  sweet way; not every man

  Is shown the road that leads

  to such a treasure chest!

  Don’t frighten us by saying

  Reason prohibits it;

  In our town that police-chief

  has made not one arrest.

  Clear eyes can glimpse Him, as

  they glimpse the new moon’s sliver,

  And not to every gaze

  is this made manifest.

  So ask your own eyes then

  just who it is who slays us;

  Stars have not sinned here, nor

  have horoscopes transgressed!

  Hafez’s tears have no

  effect at all; you are

  Like granite, as my heart’s

  bewilderments attest.

  MY HEART, GOOD FORTUNE IS THE ONLY FRIEND

  Going along beside you that you need;

  A breeze that’s scented with Shiraz’s gardens

  Is all the guard to guide you that you need.

  Poor wretch, don’t leave your lover’s home again,

  Don’t be in such a hurry to depart –

  A corner of our Sufi meeting place,

  The journey in your heart…are all you need.

  The claims of home, the promises you made

  An ancient friend – these are enough to say

  When making your excuses to the travelers

&n
bsp; Who’ve been along life’s way…they’re all you need.

  If grief should leap out from some corner of

  Your stubborn heart and ambush you, confide

  Your troubles to our ancient Zoroastrian –

  His precincts will provide…you all you need.

  Sit yourself down upon the wine-shop’s bench

  And take a glass of wine – this is your share

  Of all the wealth and glory of the world,

  And what you’re given there…is all you need.

  Let go, and make life easy for yourself,

  Don’t strain and struggle, always wanting more;

  A glass of wine, a lover lovely as

  The moon – you may be sure…they’re all you need.

  The heavens give the ignorant their head,

  Desire’s the only bridle they acknowledge –

  Your fault is that you’re clever and accomplished,

  And this same sin of knowledge…is all you need.

  And you require no other prayer, Hafez,

  Than that prayed in the middle of the night;

  This and the morning lesson you repeat

  As dawn displays her light…are all you need.

  Don’t look for gifts from others; in both worlds –

  This world, the world that is to come – your king’s

  Kind bounty, and the Lord’s approval, are

  The two essential things…they’re all you need.

  ALTHOUGH OUR PREACHER MIGHT NOT LIKE

  to hear me mention it,

  He’ll never be a Moslem while

  he’s such a hypocrite.

  Learn to be dissolute; be kind –

  this is far better than

  To be a beast that won’t drink wine

  and can’t become a man.

  The essence must be wholly pure

  if grace is to be ours;

  If not, no stones will turn to pearls,

  or coral come from flowers.

  The Highest will fulfill His aims,

  rejoice, my heart! No lies

  Can make a devil Solomon

  whatever tricks he tries.

  I practice love, a noble trade,

  and hope that I won’t see

  Love bring, as other trades have done,

  sorrow and grief to me.

  Last night he said, “Tomorrow I

  will give you your desire.”

  O God, don’t let regret assail him

  and make him out a liar!

  I’ll pray that God adds goodness to

  the beauty you possess,

  So that you’ll cease to cause me such

  distraction and distress.

  Hafez, unless a mote aspires

  and strives, it has no chance

  To reach that source from which the sun

  receives its radiance.

  WHEN YOU DRINK WINE, SPRINKLE

  A few drops on the ground –

  What’s there to fear from sin

  That spreads such joy around?

  Go, drink up all you have,

  Drink now and don’t delay –

  Death’s dagger won’t delay

  Dispatching you one day.

  My cypress-slender love,

  By the dust on which you tread,

  Don’t hesitate to visit

  My dust when I am dead.

  In heaven or in hell,

  For angels or for men,

  In every faith – to hold back

  Counts as a mortal sin.

  The Architect of heaven

  Who gave the world its shape

  Has sealed its six directions

  So that there’s no escape.

  The daughter of the vine

  Leads Reason all astray –

  May the vine’s trellis stand

  Unharmed till Judgment Day!

  And may your dear friends’ prayers,

  Hafez, when you depart

  Via the wine-shop’s door,

  Accompany your heart.

  MY HEART WAS STOLEN BY A LOUT,

  A gypsy-featured lad

  Who broke his promises and was

  Half cut-throat and half mad.

  I’d rather see a ripped shirt worn

  By someone blessed with beauty

  Than see a thousand Sufi cloaks,

  All abstinence and duty.

  An angel has no notion what

  Love is when it’s discussed,

  No, call for rose water, my boy

  To pour on Adam’s dust.

  I love the words that kindle fire,

  A verbal conflagration,

  Not cold words used to douse the flames

  Of friendly conversation.

  I’ve come now to your court, worn out

  By pain and indigence;

  Have mercy on me, I’ve no hope

  But your benevolence.

  Don’t put your trust in all the tricks

  And games that you’ve created;

  It’s said there are a thousand ways

  For kings to be checkmated.

  “Come then,” a voice within the wine-shop

  Last night admonished me,

  “You’ve gained contentment, now accept

  This stage as Fate’s decree.”

  Attach a wine-cup to my shroud

  So that on Judgment Day

  The wine will help my quaking heart

  Chase all her fears away.

  Between the lover and the loved

  There will be no divide,

  But you yourself, Hafez, must draw

  The veil of Self aside.

  GOOD NEWS! THE DAYS OF GRIEF AND PAIN

  won’t stay like this –

  As others went, these won’t remain

  or stay like this.

  Though my belovèd thinks of me

  as dirt and dust,

  My rival’s status, and her trust,

  won’t stay like this.

  And though the doorman wields his sword

  against us all,

  No rank remains immutable

  or stays like this.

  When good or bad come, why give thanks,

  and why complain?

  Since what is written won’t remain

  or stay like this.

  They say when Jamshid reigned, “Bring wine”

  was his court’s song,

  “Since even Jamshid won’t live long,

  or stay like this.”

  And if you’re wealthy help the poor,

  since, be assured,

  The gold and silver that you hoard

  won’t stay like this!

  O candle, prize the moth’s love now

  and hold it fast –

  When dawn arrives it cannot last

  or stay like this.

  In words of gold they’ve written on

  the emerald sky,

  “Only compassion does not die

  but stays like this.”

  Do not despair of love, Hafez;

  it can’t be true

  The heartlessness she’s shown to you

  will stay like this.

  I’LL SAY IT OPENLY, AND BE

  Happy to speak my mind –

  “I am the slave of love, and I

  Have left both worlds behind.”

  I am a bird from paradise

  And can’t account for how

  I fell into this trap of troubles

  Where I must languish now.

  I was an angel, the highest court

  Of heaven was home to me –

  Adam it was who brought me to

  This ruined monastery.

  But heavenly shade, the water there,

  The houris’ proffered love

  Are all forgotten now, and it’s

  Your street I’m dreaming of;

  And on the tablets of my heart

  My friend’s tall stature’s written;

  What can I do? My master’s le
sson

  Was this, and now I’m smitten.

  No wise astrologer can tell

  What star’s assigned to me;

  O God, when earth, my mother, bore me,

  What did the heavens decree?

  A slave before love’s wine-shop door

  Is where and how I live,

  And every moment brings to me

  The blessings sorrows give.

  My eyes weep heart’s blood – this is right

  Given what I have done;

  Why did I hand my heart to one

  Beloved by everyone?

  Oh, use your hair to wipe the tears

  From your Hafez’s face,

  Or soon their flood will bear me off

  And leave behind no trace.

  AH, GOD FORBID THAT I RELINQUISH WINE

  When roses are in season;

  How could I do this when I’m someone who

  Makes such a show of Reason?

  Where’s a musician, so that I can give

  The profit I once found

  In self-control and knowledge for a flute’s songs,

  And a lute’s sweet sound?

  The endless arguments within the schools –

  Whatever they might prove –

  Sickened my heart; I’ll give a little time

  To wine now, and to love.

  Where is the shining messenger of dawn

  That I might now complain

  To my good fortune’s harbinger of this

  Long night of lonely pain?

  But when did time keep faith with anyone?

  Bring wine, and I’ll recall

  The tales of kings, of Jamshid and Kavus,

  And how time took them all.

  I’m not afraid of sins recorded in

  My name – I’ll roll away

  A hundred such accounts, by His benevolence

  And grace, on Judgment Day.

  This lent soul, that the Friend once gave into

  Hafez’s care, I’ll place

  Within His hands again, on that day when

  I see Him face to face.

  MILD BREEZE OF MORNING, GENTLY TELL

  That errant, elegant gazelle

  She’s made me wander far and wide

  About the hills and countryside.

  My sugar-lipped, sweet girl – oh, may

  You live forever and a day! –

  Where is your kindness? Come now, show it

  To your sweet-talking parrot-poet.

  My rose, does vanity restrain you?

  Does beauty’s arrogance detain you

  From seeking out this nightingale

  Who wildly sings, to no avail?

  With gentleness and kindness lies

  The surest way to win the wise,