Chapter 36

Has the revolving Sphere two days opposed thy wish, Know that the circling Round is changeful found: Despair not.

If on the Ka'bah bent, thou brave the desert sand, Though from the acacias thorn thy foot be torn, Despair not,

Heart, should the flood of death life's fabric sweep away, Noah shall steer the ark o'er billows dark: Despair not,

Though perilous the stage, though out of sight the goal, Whither soe'er we wend, there is an end: Despair not,

If Love evades our grasp, and rivals press our suit, God, Lord of every change, surveys the range: Despair not.

Háfiz, in thy poor nook-- Alone, the dark night through-- Prayer and the Koran's page Shall grief assuage-- Despair not.

CXXIX

Endurance, intellect, and peace have from my bosom flown, Lured by an idol's silver ear-lobes, and its heart of stone.

An image brisk, of piercing looks, with peris' beauty blest, Of slender shape, of lunar face, in Turk-like tunic drest!

With a fierce glow within me lit--in amorous frenzy lost-- A culinary pot am I, in ebullition tost.

My nature as a shirt's would be, at all times free from smart, If like yon tunic garb I pressed the wearer to my heart.

At harshness I have ceased to grieve, for none to light can bring A rose that is apart from thorns, or honey void of sting.

The framework of this mortal form may rot within the mould, But in my soul a love exists which never shall grow cold.

My heart and faith, my heart and faith--of old they were unharmed, Till by yon shoulders and yon breast, yon breast and shoulders charmed.

Háfiz, a medicine for thy woe, A medicine must thou sip, No other than that lip so sweet, That lip so sweet, that lip.

CXXXIV

Although upon his moon-like cheek delight and beauty glow, Nor constancy nor love is there: O Lord! these gifts bestow.

A child makes war against my heart; and he in sport one day Will put me to a cruel death, and law shall not gainsay.

What seems for my own good is this: my heart from him to guard; For one who knows not good from ill its guardianship were hard.

Agile and sweet of fourteen years that idol whom I praise: His ear-rings in her soul retains the moon of fourteen days.

A breath as the sweet smell of milk comes from those sugary lips; But from those black and roguish eyes behold what blood there drips!

My heart to find that new-born rose has gone upon its way; But where can it be found, O Lord? I've lost it many a day.

If the young friend who owns my heart my centre thus can break, The Pasha will command him soon the lifeguard's rank to take.

I'd sacrifice my life in thanks, If once that pearl of sheen Would make the shell of Háfiz' eye Its place of rest serene.

CXXXV

I tried my fortune in this city lorn: From out its whirlpool must my pack be borne.

I gnaw my hand, and, heaving sighs of ire, I light in my rent frame the rose's fire.

Sweet sang the bulbul at the close of day, The rose attentive on her leafy spray:

"O heart! be joyful, for thy ruthless Love Sits down ill-temper'd at the sphere above.

"To make the false, harsh world thyself pass o'er, Ne'er promise falsely and be harsh no more.

"If beat misfortune's waves upon heaven's roof, Devout men's fate and gear bide ocean-proof.

"Háfiz, if lasting Were enjoyment's day, Jem's throne would never Have been swept away."

CXLV

Breeze of the North, thy news allays my fears: The hour of meeting with my Loved one nears.

Prospered by Heaven, O carrier pigeon, fly: Hail to thee, hail to thee, come nigh, come nigh!

How fares our Salmâ? What Zú Salam's state? Our neighbors there--are they unscathed by Fate?

The once gay banquet-hall is now devoid Of circling goblets, and of friends who joyed.

Perished the mansion with its lot serene: Interrogate the mounds where once 'twas seen.

The night of absence has now cast its shade: What freaks by Fancy's night-gang will be played?

He who has loved relates an endless tale: Here the most eloquent of tongues must fail.

My Turk's kind glances no one can obtain: Alas, this pride, this coldness, this disdain!

In perfect beauty did thy wish draw nigh: God guard thee from Kamál's malefic eye![44]

Háfiz, long will last Patience, love, and pain? Lovers wail is sweet: Do thou still complain.

CXLVI

O thou who hast ravished my heart by thine exquisite grace and thy shape, Thou carest for no one, and yet not a soul from thyself can escape.

At times I draw sighs from my heart, and at times, O my life, thy sharp dart: Can aught I may say represent all the ills I endure from my heart?

How durst I to rivals commend thy sweet lips by the ruby's tent gemmed, When words that are vivid in hue by a soul unrefined are contemned?

As strength to thy beauty accrues ev'ry day from the day sped before, To features consummate as thine, will we liken the night-star no more.

My heart hast thou reft: take my soul! For thine envoy of grief what pretence? One perfect in grief as myself with collector as he may dispense.

O Háfiz, in Love's holy bane, As thy foot has at last made its way, Lay hold of his skirt with thy hand, And with all sever ties from to-day.

CXLIX

Both worlds, the Transient and Eterne, for Sákí and the Loved I'd yield: To me appears Love's satellite the universe's ample field.

Should a new favorite win my place, my ruler shall be still supreme: It were a sin should I my life more precious than my friend esteem.

CLV

Last night my tears, a torrent stream, stopped Sleep by force: I painted, musing on thy down, upon the water-course.

Then, viewing my Beloved one's brow--my cowl burnt up-- In honor of the sacred Arch I drained my flowing cup.

From my dear friend's resplendent brow pure light was shed; And on that moon there fell from far the kisses that I sped.

The face of Sákí charmed my eye, the harp my ear: At once for both mine ear and eye what omens glad were here!

I painted thine ideal face till morning's light, Upon the studio of my eye, deprived of sleep at night.

My Sákí took at this sweet strain the wine-bowl up: I sang to him these verses first; then drank to sparkling cup.

If any of my bird-like thoughts from joy's branch flew, Back from the springes of thy lock their fleeting wings I drew.

The time of Háfiz passed in joy: To friends I brought For fortune and the days of life The omens that they sought.

CLVII

Come, Súfi, let us from our limbs the dress that's worn for cheat Draw: Let us a blotting line right through this emblem of deceit Draw.

The convent's revenues and alms we'd sacrifice for wine awhile, And through the vintry's fragrant flood this dervish-robe of guile Draw.

Intoxicated, forth we'll dash, and from our feasting foe's rich stores Bear off his wine, and then by force his charmer out of doors Draw.

Fate may conceal her mystery, shut up within her hiding pale, But we who act as drunken men will from its face the veil Draw.

Here let us shine by noble deeds, lest we at last ashamed appear, When starting for the other world, we hence our spirit's gear Draw.

To-morrow at Rizván's green glade, should they refuse to make it ours, We from their halls will the ghilmán, the houris from their bowers Draw.

Where can we see her winking brow, that we, as the new moon of old, At once may the celestial ball, as with a bat of gold, Draw?

O Háfiz! it becomes us not Our boastful claims thus forth to put: Beyond the limits of our rug Why would we fain our foot Draw?

CLIX

Aloud I say it, and with heart of glee: "Love's slave am I, and from both worlds am free."

Can I, the bird of sacred gardens, tell Into this net of chance how first I fell?

My place the Highest Heaven, an angel born, I came by Adam to this cloister lorn.

Sweet houris, Túbâ's shade, and Fountain's brink Fade from my mind when of thy street I think.

Knows no astrologer my star of birth: Lord, 'neath what plant bore me Mother Earth?

Since with ringed ear I've served Love's house of wine, Grief's gratulations have each hour been mine.

My eyeball's man drains my heart's blood; 'tis just: In man's own darling did I place my trust.

My Loved one's Alif-form[45] stamps all my thought: Save that, what letter has my master taught?

Let Háfiz' tear-drops By thy lock be dried, For fear I perish In their rushing tide.

CLXVI

Knowest thou what fortune is? 'Tis Beauty's sight obtaining; 'Tis asking in her lane for alms, And royal pomp disdaining.

Sev'erance from the wish for life an easy task is ever; But lose we friends who sweeten life, the tie is hard to sever.

Bud-like with a serried heart I'll to the orchard wander; The garment of my good repute I'll tear to pieces yonder;

Now, as doth the West-wind, tell deep secrets to the Flower, Hear now of Love's mysterious sport from bulbuls of the bower.

Kiss thy Beloved one's lips at first while the occasion lingers: Await thou else disgust at last from biting lip and fingers.

Profit by companionship: this two-doored house forsaken, No pathway that can thither lead in future time is taken.

Háfiz from the thought, it seems, Of Sháh Mansur has fleeted; O Lord! remind him that the poor With favor should be treated.

CLXXIII

With my heart's blood I wrote to one most dear: "The earth seems doom-struck if thou are not near.

"My eyes a hundred signs of absence show: These tears are not their only signs of woe."

I gained no boon from her for labor spent: "Who tries the tried will in the end repent."

I asked how fared she; the physician spake: "Afar from her is health; but near her ache."

The East-wind from my Moon removed her veil: At morn shone forth the Sun from vapors pale.

I said: "They'll mock, if I go round thy lane." By God! no love escapes the mocker's bane.

Grant Háfiz' prayer: "One cup, by life so sweet!" He seeks a goblet With thy grace replete!

CLXXX

O thou who art unlearned still, the quest of love essay: Canst thou who hast not trod the path guide others on the way?

While in the school of Truth thou stay'st, from Master Love to learn, Endeavor, though a son to-day, the father's grade to earn.

Slumber and food have held thee far from Love's exalted good: Wouldst thou attain the goal of love, abstain from sleep and food.

If with the rays of love of truth thy heart and soul be clear, By God! thy beauty shall outshine the sun which lights the sphere.

Wash from the dross of life thy hands, as the Path's men of old, And winning Love's alchemic power, transmute thyself to gold.

On all thy frame, from head to foot, the light of God shall shine, If on the Lord of Glory's path nor head nor foot be thine.

An instant plunge into God's sea, nor e'er the truth forget That the Seven Seas' o'erwhelming tide, no hair of thine shall wet.

If once thy glancing eye repose on the Creator's face. Thenceforth among the men who glance shall doubtless be thy place.[46]

When that which thy existence frames all upside-down shall be, Imagine not that up and down shall be the lot of thee.

Háfiz, if ever in thy head Dwell Union's wish serene, Thou must become the threshold's dust Of men whose sight is keen.

[FOOTNOTES to THE DIVAN]

[Footnote 1: "The traveller of the Pathway"--the Magian, or Shaikh. In former times wine was chiefly sold by Magians, and as the keepers of taverns and caravansaries grew popular, the term Magian was used to designate not only "mine host," but also a wise old man, or spiritual teacher.]

[Footnote 2: An allusion to the dimple and moisture of the chin, considered great beauties by Orientals.]

[Footnote 3: Jem or Jemshíd, an ancient King of Persia. By Jem and his Sákí are to be understood, in this couplet, the King of Yazd and his courtiers.]

[Footnote 4: By the azure cowl is implied the cloak of deceit and false humility. Háfiz uses this expression to cast ridicule upon Shaikh Hazan's order of dervishes, who were inimical to the brotherhood of which the poet was a member. The dervishes mentioned wore blue to express their celestial aspirations.]

[Footnote 5: The disciples of Shaikh Hasan. Háfiz had incurred their displeasure by the levity of his conduct.]

[Footnote 6: In the "Gulistan" of Sa'di a philosopher declares that, of all the trees, the cypress is alone to be called free, because, unlike the others, it is not subject to the vicissitudes of appointed place and season, "but is at all times fresh and green, and this is the condition of the free."]

[Footnote 7: In some MSS. we read: "The mirror of Sikander is the goblet of Jem." King Jem, or Jemshíd, had a talismanic cup: Sikander, or Alexander, had inherited from pre-Adamite times a magic mirror by means of which he was enabled to see into the camp of his enemy Dárá (Darius). Háfiz here informs us that the knowledge imputed to either king was obtained by wine.]

[Footnote 8: Referring to wine, which in the Koran is declared to be the Mother of Vices.]

[Footnote 9: Korah, Kore, or Kárun, the Dives of his age, was an alchemist. He lived in an excess of luxury and show. At the height of his pride and gluttony he rebelled against Moses, refusing to pay a tithe of his possessions for the public use. The earth then opened and swallowed him up together with the palace in which he dwelt. (See Koran, chap, xxviii, and, for the Bible narrative, The Book of Numbers, chap, xvi.)]

[Footnote 10: It was decreed from all eternity that Háfiz should drink wine. He had therefore no free agency and could not be justly blamed.]

[Footnote 11: The boy serving at the wine-house.]

[Footnote 12: The curl of hair over a moon-like face is here compared to a curved mall-bat sweeping over a ball.]

[Footnote 13: By "earth" is to be understood Noah himself.]

[Footnote 14: Fate, Fortune, and the Sky, are in Oriental poetry intervertible expressions; and the dome of Heaven is compared to a cup which is full of poison for the unfortunate.]

[Footnote 15: The rebeck is a sort of violin having only three chords.]

[Footnote 16: His locks being black as night and his cheek cheerful as the Sun of Daï or December.]

[Footnote 17: Kai-káús, one of the most celebrated monarchs of Persia.]

[Footnote 18: The pictured halls of China, or, in particular, the palace of Arzhang, the dwelling of Manes. Manes lived in the third century of our era, and his palace was famed as the Chinese picture-gallery. Háfiz compares the bloom upon the cheek of his friend to the works of art executed by Manes, in which dark shadows, like velvety down upon the human face, excite no surprise.]

[Footnote 19: The Nasrín is the dog-rose.]

[Footnote 20: In Mohammedan countries it is customary to write upon the doors: "O Opener of the gates! open unto us the gates of blessing."]

[Footnote 21: Rizván is the gardener and gatekeeper of Paradise.]

[Footnote 22: The lote-tree, known to Arabs as the Túbâ, is a prickly shrub. The Koran says: "To those who believe, and perform good works, appertain welfare and a fair retreat. The men of the right hand--how happy shall be the men of the right hand!--shall dwell among the lote-trees without thorns. Under their feet rivers shall flow in the garden of Delight."]

[Footnote 23: According to Oriental belief, the ruby and all other gems, derive their brilliancy from the action of the sun. By a similar process of Nature, ruby lips obtain their vivid color from the sun above them.]

[Footnote 24: The zodiacal light or faint illumination of the sky which disappears before the light of daybreak.]

[Footnote 25: Ásaf, Solomon's "Vizir," was entrusted with the guardianship of the imperial signet ring, which was possessed of magical properties. While in his care it was stolen. When Solomon granted an audience to animals, and even insects, the ant, it is related, brought as an offering a blade of grass and rebuked Ásaf for having guarded the royal treasure so carelessly. By Ásaf, Háfiz symbolizes in the present instance his friend or favorite; by the ant is implied a small hair on the face, and by the lost signet of Jem, a beautiful mouth, so small and delicate as to be invisible.]

[Footnote 26: Majnún, a celebrated lover, maddened by the charms of Lailà.]

[Footnote 27: This ode may have been written in gratitude for the patronage of a man of rank.]

[Footnote 28: Literally in this toper-consuming shrine (of the world). The second line of the couplet probably means: Other revellers have preceded me, but their heads are now potter's clay in the potter's field of the earth.]

[Footnote 29: The wild tulip of Shiraz has white petals streaked with pink, the inner end of each bearing a deep puce mark. The dark spot formed thus in the centre of the flower is compared to the brand of love, pre-ordained on the Past Day of Eternity to be imprinted on the heart of Háfiz.]

[Footnote 30: Khosráu (Cyrus) is the title of several ancient kings of Persia, and is here used in the plural to denote monarchs in general. The term "kiblah," fronting-point, signifies the object towards which the worshipper turns when he prays.]

[Footnote 31: Korah or Kárun--the miser who disobeyed Moses and was swallowed up with his treasures by the earth. They are said to be still sinking deeper and deeper. (See Numbers, xvi.)]

[Footnote 32: How vain were the glories of Solomon! Ásaf was his minister, the East wind his courser, and the language of birds one of his accomplishments; but the blast of time had swept them away.]

[Footnote 33: The "Comment of the Comments" is a celebrated explanatory treatise on the Koran.]

[Footnote 34: Káf is a fabulous mountain encircling the world. In this couplet and the following the poet ridicules the ascetics of his time.]

[Footnote 35: The false coiners are inferior poets who endeavor to pass off their own productions as the work of Háfiz.]

[Footnote 36: Aiman (Happiness) is the valley in which God appeared to Moses--metaphorically, the abode of the Beloved.]

[Footnote 37: "Mihráb"--the niche in a mosque, towards which Mohammedans pray.]

[Footnote 38: Kalandars are an order of Mohammedan dervishes who wander about and beg. The worthless sectaries of Kalandarism, Háfiz says, shave off beard and tonsure, but the true or spiritual Kalandar shapes his path by a scrupulous estimate of duty.]

[Footnote 39: "Farrukh" (auspicious) is doubtless the name of some favorite of the Poet.]

[Footnote 40: "Hindú" is here equivalent to "slave."]

[Footnote 41: Zerdusht (in Latin, Zoroaster)--the celebrated prophet of the Gulbres, or fire-worshippers. Nimrod is said to have practised a religion, similar to theirs.]

[Footnote 42: Ád and Thamúd were Arab tribes exterminated by God in consequence of their having disobeyed the prophet Sálih.]

[Footnote 43: By a "grain" is meant a grain of wheat; according to Mohammedans, the forbidden fruit of Paradise.]

[Footnote 44: Kamál was an Arab whose glance inflicted death.]

[Footnote 45: "Alif-form," meaning a straight and erect form: the letter Alif being, as it were, of upright stature.]

[Footnote 46: "The men who glance" are lovers. The spiritual or true lover is he who loves God.]

END OF VOLUME ONE