Come, because the Turk of heaven has plundered the feast’s table,
And the festival of the crescent points to the time of cup-sharing.
That one wins the reward for fasting and proper pilgrimage,
Who pays holy regard to the dust at the wine-house of love.
Our real home is our corner at the wine-house of ruin;
May god bless him with riches who makes this his palace!
He offers prayers in the arch of the mehrab-like eyebrows,
Who has ritually cleansed himself with the liver’s blood.
What is the price of that ruby-like wine? The jewel of reason.
Come, because only profit is made in a bargain like this!
Alas! that the drunken eye of the city’s sheikh today,
Looked at “those who drink the dregs” with such contempt.
Hear the story of love from Hafez, not from the preacher,
However exceedingly skillful his rhetoric may be.
notes: Turk= a reference to the planet mars, whose
marauding nature typifies the gluttony following
prescribed fasts. The new moon indicates the end of the fast.
mehrab= niche indicating orientation of the daily prayers.
liver= the persian word jegar means liver and heart,
and is the “seat” of courage.
