“On the Way to the Garden” by Hafez
The Garden is breathing out the air of Paradise
Today. I can sense myself, and this lively wine,
And this friend whose nature approaches the divine.
It’s all right if the beggar claims to be a King
Today. His tent is a shadow thrown by a cloud;
His banqueting hall is a newly sown field.
Paradise is here in the simple tale that the May
Meadow tells; the wise person lets the future
And its profits go and accepts the cash now.
Please don’t imagine that your enemy will ever
Be faithful to you. The candle the hermit lights
Will always flutter out in the worldly church.
Make your soul strong then by letting it drink
The secret wine. This rotten world has its own
Plans: to press our dust into bricks.
My life is a black book. But don’t rebuke a drinker
Like me too much. No human being can ever read
The words written on his own forehead.
When Hafez’s coffin comes by, it’ll be all right
To follow behind. Although he is
A captive of sin, he is on his way to the Garden.
The Angels Knocking on the Tavern Door, 2008, p. 65
Translated by Robert Bly and Leonard Lewisohn
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