On the ranks of the Rend cast your glance- better than this!
Beat a path to the winehouse’ door- better than this!
In all truth, I swear that the grace your lip commands
Is excellent, but a bit more would be- better than this!
To he whose thought loosens the world’s knots- say:
In this subtle matter, marshal a view- better than this!
What shall I do but give my heart to that precious youth:
The mother of time has not a son- better than this!
My advisor said, what, other than grief, does love possess;
Go, O learned one, what great skill is- better than this?
When I say, drink the glass and kiss the saqi’s lips,
Listen, my dear, because no one says it- better than this!
The sweetest branch of sugar cane is Hafez’s pen. Take it-
For in this garden you will find no fruit- better than this!
This ghazal features a radif, a repeating phrase, that follows the rhyme (which is not represented here). In the first beyt (couplet), the speaker boldly draws attention to his vocation as a Rend, a divine rogue, whose occupation is drinking wine. In the next beyt, he praises the beloved’s lips- but wants more of them. The third beyt is a sardonic reference to some self-important egghead, whose view of such matters is lacking. In the fourth beyt, the beloved is likened to a handsome youth beyond compare. The fifth beyt states that the primary quality of love is suffering. In… Read more »