SLAVES of thy shining eyes are even those <br />That diadems of might and empire bear; <br />Drunk with the wine that from thy red lip flows, <br />Are they that e'en the grape's delight forswear. <br />Drift, like the wind across a violet bed, <br />Before thy many lovers, weeping low, <br />And clad like violets in blue robes of woe, <br />Who feel thy wind-blown hair and bow the head. <br /> <br />Thy messenger the breath of dawn, and mine <br />A stream of tears, since lover and beloved <br />Keep not their secret; through my verses shine, <br />Though other lays my flower's grace have proved <br />And countless nightingales have sung thy praise. <br />When veiled beneath thy curls thou passest, see, <br />To right and leftward those that welcome thee <br />Have bartered peace and rest on thee to gaze! <br /> <br />But thou that knowest God by heart, away! <br />Wine-drunk, love-drunk, we inherit Paradise, <br />His mercy is for sinners; hence and pray <br />Where wine thy cheek red as red erghwan dyes, <br />And leave the cell to faces sinister. <br />Oh Khizr, whose happy feet bathed in life's fount, <br />Help one who toils afoot-the horsemen mount <br />And hasten on their way; I scarce can stir. <br /> <br />Ah, loose me not! ah, set not Hafiz free <br />From out the bondage of thy gleaming hair! <br />Safe only those, safe, and at liberty, <br />That fast enchained in thy linked ringlets are. <br />But from the image of his dusty cheek <br />Learn this from Hafiz: proudest heads shall bend, <br />And dwellers on the threshold of a friend <br />Be crownèd with the dust that crowns the meek.<br /><br />Shams al-Din Hafiz Shirazi<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/slaves-of-thy-shining-eyes/
