I've Said It Before and I'll Say It Again

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

It's not my fault that with a broken heart, I've gone this way.

In front of a mirror they have put me like a parrot,

And behind the mirror the Teacher tells me what to say.

Whether I am perceived as a thorn or a rose, it's

The Gardener who has fed and nourished me day to day.

O friends, don't blame me for this broken heart;

Inside me there is a great jewel and it's to the Jeweler's shop I go.

Even though, to pious, drinking wine is a sin,

Don't judge me; I use it as a bleach to wash the color of hypocrisy away.

All that laughing and weeping of lovers must be coming from some other place;

Here, all night I sing with my winecup and then moan for You all day.

If someone were to ask Hafiz, "Why do you spend all your time sitting in

The Winehouse door?," to this man I would say, "From there, standing,

  I can see both the Path and the Way.

_________

From: Drunk on the Wind of the Beloved

Translated by Thomas Rain Crowe

I Know The Way You Can Get

I know the way you can get

When you have not had a drink of Love:

Your face hardens,

Your sweet muscles cramp.

Children become concerned

About a strange look that appears in your eyes

Which even begins to worry your own mirror

And nose.

Squirrels and birds sense your sadness

And call an important conference in a tall tree.

They decide which secret code to chant

To help your mind and soul.

Even angels fear that brand of madness

That arrays itself against the world

And throws sharp stones and spears into

The innocent

And into one's self.

O I know the way you can get

If you have not been drinking Love:

You might rip apart

Every sentence your friends and teachers say,

Looking for hidden clauses.

You might weigh every word on a scale

Like a dead fish.

You might pull out a ruler to measure

From every angle in your darkness

The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once

Trusted.

I know the way you can get

If you have not had a drink from Love's

Hands.

That is why all the Great Ones speak of

The vital need

To keep remembering God,

So you will come to know and see Him

As being so Playful

And Wanting,

Just Wanting to help.

That is why Hafiz says:

Bring your cup near me.

For all I care about

Is quenching your thirst for freedom!

All a Sane man can ever care about

Is giving Love! 

From: 'I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz'   

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky 

School of Truth

 

O fool, do something, so you won't just stand there looking dumb.

If you are not traveling and on the road, how can you call yourself a guide?

In the School of Truth, one sits at the feet of the Master of Love.

So listen, son, so that one day you may be an old father, too!

All this eating and sleeping has made you ignorant and fat;

By denying yourself food and sleep, you may still have a chance.

Know this: If God should shine His lovelight on your heart,

I promise you'll shine brighter than a dozen suns.

And I say: wash the tarnished copper of your life from your hands;

To be Love's alchemist, you should be working with gold.

Don't sit there thinking; go out and immerse yourself in God's sea.

Having only one hair wet with water will not put knowledge in that head.

For those who see only God, their vision

Is pure, and not a doubt remains.

Even if our world is turned upside down and blown over by the wind,

If you are doubtless, you won't lose a thing.

O Hafiz, if it is union with the Beloved that you seek,

Be the dust at the Wise One's door, and speak!

From: 'Drunk On the Wind of the Beloved'  

Translated by Thomas Rain Crowe

Laughing At the Word Two

Only 

That Illumined 

One 

Who keeps 

Seducing the formless into form 

Had the charm to win my 

Heart. 

Only a Perfect One 

Who is always 

Laughing at the word 

Two 

Can make you know 

Of 

Love. 

From: 'The Gift' 

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

From the Large Jug, Drink

From the large jug, drink the wine of Unity,

So that from your heart you can wash away the futility of life's grief.

But like this large jug, still keep the heart expansive.

Why would you want to keep the heart captive, like an unopened bottle

  of wine?

With your mouth full of wine, you are selfless

And will never boast of your own abilities again.

Be like the humble stone at your feet rather than striving to be like a

Sublime cloud: the more you mix colors of deceit, the more colorless

   your ragged wet coat will get.

Connect the heart to the wine, so that it has body,

Then cut off the neck of hypocrisy and piety of this new man.

Be like Hafiz: Get up and make an effort. Don't lie around like a bum.

He who throws himself at the Beloved's feet is like a workhorse and will

    be rewarded with boundless pastures and eternal rest.

From: Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved 

Translated by Thomas Rain Crowe

I Have Learned So Much

 

I 

Have 

Learned 

So much from God 

That I can no longer 

Call 

Myself 

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, 

a Buddhist, a Jew. 

The Truth has shared so much of Itself 

With me 

That I can no longer call myself 

A man, a woman, an angel, 

Or even a pure 

Soul. 

Love has 

Befriended Hafiz so completely

It has turned to ash 

And freed 

Me 

Of every concept and image 

my mind has ever known.

From: 'The Gift'  

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Let Thought Become Your Beautiful Lover

 

Let thought become the beautiful Woman.

Cultivate your mind and heart to that depth

That it can give you everything

A warm body can.

Why just keep making love with God's child Form

When the Friend Himself is standing

Before us

So open-armed?

My dear,

Let prayer become your beautiful Lover

And become free,

Become free of this whole world

Like Hafiz.

From: 'The Gift' 

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky