Persian
text
For long, our heart has yearned to possess Jamsheed's Cup,
.....begging for what it already possesses,
Like a pearl, floating out of its cosmic shell,
.....begging for help from those, themselves
lost in the sea.
Yesternight, I took my question to the wise Magi,
.....by all accounts the arbiter of resolutions.
I saw him! Cheerful, full of laughter, a cup of wine in hand,
scanning that ruby mirror with his eyes--a hundred times!
I asked, "Oh, sage, who gifted you this cup of perceptions--when?"
.....He replied, "When this azured
Dome, He was fashioning last.
God walked with a blind man under all conditions.
.....Failing to recognize Him, he cried,
'Oh, where are you, God?'
See! That friend, whose head adorns that gallows pole:
.....he sinned! Yes, he was a revealer
of hidden secrets!
If the Holy Spirit once again intervenes,
.....many might do what the Messiah did."
I asked, "Those ringlets on the idols' curls - for what purpose?"
He replied, "Hafez is just bemoaning his love-sick heart!"
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-- Tousled
hair, sweating, a smile on her lips--drunk!...
Zolf aashofteh o khoy karedeh o khandaan lab o mast...
-- Oh,
Wind, kindly tell that tender gazelle...
Sabaa belotf begoo aan ghazaleh ra'naa raa...
-- Would
that Shirazi Turk behold our heart; then...
Agar aan torkeh shiraazee bedast aarad deleh maa raa...
-- From
mosque to tavern sauntered our guru--yesternight...
Doosh az masjed sooyeh meykhaaneh aamad peereh maa...
-- Come,
Sufi, see the clear mirror in the cup...
Soofi bi-yaa keh aayneh saafeest jam raa
-- Arise!
Fill the golden cup--with joyous tidings...
Kheez o dar kaaseh zar aabeh tarabnaak andaaz...
-- Do
not grieve: Joseph, lost, he returns to Canaan...
Yoosefeh ghom ghashteh baaz aayad beh kan'aan gham makhor...
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