[Footnote 20: In Mohammedan countries it is customary to write upon the doors: "O Opener of the gates! open unto us the gates of blessing.">[
[Footnote 21: Rizván is the gardener and gatekeeper of Paradise.]
[Footnote 22: The lote-tree, known to Arabs as the Túbâ, is a prickly shrub. The Koran says: "To those who believe, and perform good works, appertain welfare and a fair retreat. The men of the right hand—how happy shall be the men of the right hand!—shall dwell among the lote-trees without thorns. Under their feet rivers shall flow in the garden of Delight.">[
[Footnote 23: According to Oriental belief, the ruby and all other gems, derive their brilliancy from the action of the sun. By a similar process of Nature, ruby lips obtain their vivid color from the sun above them.]
[Footnote 24: The zodiacal light or faint illumination of the sky which disappears before the light of daybreak.]
[Footnote 25: Ásaf, Solomon's "Vizir," was entrusted with the guardianship of the imperial signet ring, which was possessed of magical properties. While in his care it was stolen. When Solomon granted an audience to animals, and even insects, the ant, it is related, brought as an offering a blade of grass and rebuked Ásaf for having guarded the royal treasure so carelessly. By Ásaf, Háfiz symbolizes in the present instance his friend or favorite; by the ant is implied a small hair on the face, and by the lost signet of Jem, a beautiful mouth, so small and delicate as to be invisible.]
[Footnote 26: Majnún, a celebrated lover, maddened by the charms of
Lailà.]
[Footnote 27: This ode may have been written in gratitude for the patronage of a man of rank.]
[Footnote 28: Literally in this toper-consuming shrine (of the world). The second line of the couplet probably means: Other revellers have preceded me, but their heads are now potter's clay in the potter's field of the earth.]
[Footnote 29: The wild tulip of Shiraz has white petals streaked with pink, the inner end of each bearing a deep puce mark. The dark spot formed thus in the centre of the flower is compared to the brand of love, pre-ordained on the Past Day of Eternity to be imprinted on the heart of Háfiz.]