English
Ghazal 9
If my moon-faced love lifts the veil from her face,
the sun itself would draw a curtain over its own beauty.
It's as if her two enchanting eyes, that lead even the pious astray,
cast a spell and shut sleep out of my eyes.
At the first glance I lost the reins of reason,
and once reason is gone, how can a person tell right from wrong?
I thought union might set me free from love,
but it's useless: a man sick with thirst can never be satisfied by water.
Your claim of love is false if, from that lovely hand,
you won't drink pure poison as gladly as sweet syrup.
Love is what makes us human; if you don't feel this delight,
then you're no better than the beasts that only eat and sleep.
Bring fire and burn down the harvest of the free spirits,
so the king won't demand taxes from a ruin.
The crowd is drunk on wine and blind to what truly matters;
I am so drunk on her that I want no wine at all.
Saadi, didn't I tell you not to step into love's snare?
One shot of her glance could bring down even Afrasiab.