although i turn like a vat of wine from love’s fire,
a seal is on my lips, and i drink blood in silence!
it is the soul’s intention to desire the beloved’s lips;
look at me, who in this work struggles with the soul!
how can i be free from the heart’s sorrow when each breath,
the hindu idol’s curls are like a ring piercing my ear.
god forbid that i be a follower of my own devotion-
my fate is measured such, that now and then i fill a glass!
i hope that on judgement day despite the enemy’s note,
the volume of his forgiveness won’t burden me with sin.
my father sold paradise for two grains of wheat;
why should i not sell this world for a barleycorn?
my wearing the dervish robe is not from piety;
i wear it as a cloak for a hundred hidden sins!
i who wish to only drink pure and filtered wine-
what can i do if i don’t listen to the magian elder?
if by this hand our minstrel plays the way of love,
hafez’s verse when heard will make us lose our minds!
notes: “…are like a ring …” = indicating the status of a slave.
“my father…”= adam. “magian elder”= a reference to a
person of pre islamic faith, probably zoroastrian, who
because of the islamic prohibition against wine, was often a
wine seller, and who by context is a spiritual master.
