by Dick Davis
Collection of the poems of Hafez, Jahan Khatun, and Zakani.
Your face usurps the fiery glow and hue
of roses.
Your ringlets' fragrance is so sweet, my friend,
No fragrant rose-scent could entice me to
seek roses --
Besides, the faithless roses' scent will fade,
Which is a serious drawback, in my view,
of roses;
And if the waters of eternal life
Had touched their roots, so that they bloomed anew,
these roses,
When could they ever form a bud as sweet
As your small mouth, which is more trim and true
than roses?
Jahan Khatun