Various
Poems
Khajeh Shamseddin Mohammad Hafiz Shirazi
Where are you O Wild Deer?
I have known you for a while, here.
Both loners, both lost, both forsaken
The wild beast, for ambush, have all waken
Let us inquire of each other's state
If we can, each other's wishes consummate
I can see this chaotic field
Joy and peace sometimes won't yield
O friends, tell me who braves the
danger
To befriend the forsaken, behold the stranger
Unless blessed Elias may come one day
And with his good office open the way
It is time to cultivate love
Individually decreed from above
Thus I remember the wise old man
Forgetting such a one, I never can
That one day, a seeker in a land
A wise one helped him understand
Seeker, what do you keep in your bag
Set up a trap, if bait you drag
In reply said I keep a snare
But for the phoenix I shall dare
Asked how will you
find its sign
We can't help you with your design
Like the spruce become so wise
Rise to the heights, open your eyes
Don't lose sight of the rose and wine
But beware of your fate's design
At the fountainhead, by the riverside
Shed some tears, in your heart confide
This instrument won't tune to my
needs
The generous sun, our wants exceeds
In memory of friends bygone
with spring showers hide the golden sun
With such cruelty cleaved with a
sword
As if with friendship was in full discord
When flows forth the crying river
With your own tears help it deliver
My old companion was so unkind
O Pious Men, keep God in mind
Unless blessed Elias may come one day
Help one loner to another make way
Look at the gem and let go of the
stone
Do it in a way that keeps you unknown
As my hand moves the pen to write
Ask the main writer to shed His light
I entwined mind and soul indeed
Then planted the resulting seed
In this marriage the outcome is joy
Beauty and soulfulness employ
With hope's fragrant perfume
Let eternal soul rapture assume
This perfume comes from angel's sides
Not from the doe whom men derides
Friends, to friends' worth be smart
When obvious, don't read it by heart
This is the end of tales of advice
Lie in ambush, fate's cunning and vice.
******
O Bearer, bring the wine that brings
joy
To increase generosity, & let perfection buoy
Give me some, for I have lost my
heart
Both traits from me have kept apart
Bring the wine whose reflection in
the cup
Signals to all the kings whose times are up
Give me wine, and with the reed-flute
I will sing
When was Jamshid, and when Kavoos was king
Bring me the elixir whose grace and
alchemy
Bestows treasures, from bonds of time sets free
Give me so they'll open the doors
once again
Of long life and the bliss that will remain
Bearer give
the wine that the Holy Grail
Will make claims of sight in the Void and thus fail
Give me so that I, with the help of
the Grail
All secrets, like Jamshid, themselves avail
Speak of the tale of the wheel of
fate
proclaim to the kings and heroes of late
This broken world is in the same
state
As seen by Afrasiab, the
mighty, the great
Whence his mobilizing army generals
Whence cunning heroes' war cries and calls
Not only his palace has gone to the
dust
Even his tomb is destroyed and long lost
This barren desert is in the same
stage
As the armies of Salm & Toor were lost in its rage
Bring the wine whose reflection in
the cup
Signals to all the kings whose times are up
Well said Jamshid,
the old majestic king
Worthless is this transient stage and ring
Come Bearer, that fire, radiant,
bright
Zarathushtra, beneath the earth, seeks so right
Give me wine, in the creed of the
drunk
Whether fire-worshipper or worldly monk
Come Bearer, that wholesome drunk
Who is forever in the tavern sunk
Give me, ill repute bring to my name
The cup and the wine I shall only blame
Bring Bearer, the water that burns
the mind
If lion drinks, forest will burn and grind
Courageous, I'll go hunting lions of
fate
Mess up this old wolf's trap and bait
Bring Bearer, that high heavenly wine
That angels with their scent would entwine
Give me wine, I'll burn it like sweet
incense
Its wise aroma I will sense now and hence
Bearer, give me the wine that makes
kings
Witnessing its virtues, my heart sings
Give me wine to wash away all my
flaws
Joyous rise above this rut's deadly claws
When the spiritual garden is my abode
Why have me bound to a board on this road
Give me wine and then see the Ruler's
face
Ruin me & see treasures of wisdom and grace
And when I hold the cup in my hand
In the mirror everything I understand
In my drunken state, kingship
proclaim
A monarch, when I am drunken and lame
Drunken, pearls of wisdom unveil
In hiding secrets, the selfless fail
Hafiz, drunken, songs will compose
From its melody Venus' song flows
O singer, with the sound of the
stream
Of that majestic song muse and dream
Till I make my work joy and ecstasy
I will dance and play with robe of piety
Given a crown and throne by his fate
The fruit of the kingly tree of this estate
Ruler of the land, and Lord of the
time
The grand and fortunate King of the clime
He is the greatness vested in the
Throne
comfort of bird and fish from Him alone
For the blessed, he is light of the
eyes
Yet he is the gift of the soul of the wise
Behold, O, auspicious bird
The happy inspiration to be heard
The world has no pearls in its shells
like Thee
Fereydoon and Jamshid had
no heirs like Thee
Instead of Alexander, be here many a
year
Know thy heart and discover joy is near
But seditious fate many plans may
devise
Me and my drunkenness troubled by Beloved's eyes
One, for his work, may pick up the
sword
Another's business only deals with the word
O Player, play the song of the new
creed
To music of the stream tell to my rival breed
Finally with my enemy I have a chance
At victory, in the skies I can glance
O Player, play something pleasing to
the ear
With a song and a Gahzal
begin a story, dear
My sorrows have tied me to the ground
Raise me with my principles that are sound
O singer, with the sound of the
stream
Play and sing that majestic song I dream
Make the great souls happy with you
Parviz and Barbad remember
too
O Player, paint a picture of the veil
Listen, inside, they tell a tale
Sing a minstrel's song, such
That Venus' harp dances with her touch
Play so the Sufi goes into a trance
Drunken, in
O Player, tambourine and harp play
With a lovely tune, sing and sway
Deceptions of the world make a vivid
tale
The night is pregnant, what will it entail
O Player, I'm sad, play one or two
In his Oneness, as long as you can, play too
I am astounded by the revolving fate
I don't know who will next degenerate
And if the Magi set one on fire
Don't know whose light will then expire
In this bloody resurrection field
Let the cup and jug their blood yield
To the drunk, of a good song, give a
sign
To friends bygone, a salutation divine
******
Time & clime, & wealth &
health, & root & fruit, & state & fate
May you in your majesty, continue in year and name
Year joyous, clime pleasant, wealth plenty, and health whole
Root constant, fruit enduring, state splendid, and fate tame.
******
O heart did you see that worthy child
What in this colorful dome had to brave
Instead of a silver plaque by his side
Fate put him under the stony grave.
******
That fruit of
Why did you not use your hands to plant inside your
heart?
When time comes for you to tell about your tale
Go to its springhead, from the heavenly fruit start.
Hafiz
by © Shahriar Shahriari,