For more about the mystic and poet Khwaja Shamsuddin Muhammed Hafiz of Shiraz, see this post.

My body’s dust is a veil
     Spread out to hide
My soul – happy that moment when
     It’s drawn aside.

To cage a songbird with so sweet
     A voice is wrong –
I’ll fly to paradise’s garden
     where I belong.

But why I’ve come and whence I came
     Is all unclear –
Alas to know so little of
     My being here!

How can I make my journey to
     My heavenly home
When I’m confined and cramped within
     This flesh and bone?

If my blood smells of longing, show no
     Astonishment –
Mine is the musk deer’s pain as he
     Secretes his scent.

Don’t think my golden shirt is like
     A candle’s light –
The true flame burns beneath my shirt,
     Hidden from sight.

Come, and ensure Hafiz’s being
     Will disappear –
Since You exist, no one will hear
     Me say, ‘I’m here.’

Translation Dick Davies