I am a ruin and wisdom’s so far away;
See the distance between me and the wise.
My heart grows tired of the temples
And the rich robes the deceiver weaves,
Where is the Old Vintage and Pure Wine?
Piety and moral goodness
Have naught to do with ecstasy.
There is not an identity
Between the dry words of a sermon
And the melodies of Divinity.
Blind is the sight of enemies
To the countenance of the Friend,
Fading light is not the same
As pure rays cast by the sun.

Graceful are the memories
Of the day of Unity,
But now she’s gone I know not where.
What happened to her coquetry?
Oh friend expect not peace nor patience
Nor restful slumbers from Hafiz.
What now is patience,
Where have rest and
Peace departed to?

Khajeh Shemsuddin Mohammed Hafiz of Shiraz
Tr. Dr. Nahid Angha