birds of passage

The

Classroom

Surely becomes disarrayed

When the teacher is out of sight

Because of our grand

Volcanic 

Spirits.

The 

Birds of passage

Arrive with a broken 

Wing,

Though

Are then lifted by God

So high and

"Low"

To experience the heart

Of everything.

The mind surely becomes disarrayed

When the Teacher is out

Of sight.

~ Hafiz

from The Gift

translations by Daniel Ladinisky

 

and love says

And love

Says,

"I will, I will take care of you,"

To everything that is

Near.

~ Hafiz

from The Gift

translation by Daniel Ladinsky

I wish I could speak like music

I wish I could speak like music.

I wish I could put the swaying splendor

Of the fields into words

So that you could hold Truth

Against your body

And dance.

I am trying the best I can

With this crude brush, the tongue, 

To cover you with light

.

I wish I could speak like divine music.

I want to give you the sublime rhythms

Of this earth and the sky's limbs

As they joyously spin and surrender,

Surrender

Against God's luminous breath.

Hafiz Wants you to hold me

Against your precious

Body

And dance

Dance.

–Hafiz

from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz

translations by Daniel Ladinsky

art by van gogh

quenching darkness

God

pours light

into every cup,

quenching darkness.

The proudly pious

stuff their cups with parchment

and critique the taste of ink

while God pours light

and the trees lift their limbs

without worry of redemption,

every blossom a chalice.

Hafiz, seduce those withered souls

with words that wet their parched lips

as light

pours like rain

into every empty cup

set adrift on the Infinite Ocean.

~ Hafiz

The solitary is one who is aware of solitude in himself as a basic and inevitable human reality, not just as something which affects him as an isolated individual. Hence his solitude is the foundation of a deep, pure and gentle sympathy with all other men, whether or not they are capable of realizing the tragedy of their plight. More - it is the doorway by which he enters into the mystery of God, and brings others into that mystery by the power of his love and his humility.

- Thomas Merton

  from Disputed Questions

Notes for a Philosophy of Solitude

with thanks to http://fatherlouie.blogspot.com/




photo by Thomas Merton

What the solitary renounces is not his union with other men, but rather the deceptive fictions and inadequate symbols which tend to take the place of genuine social unity - to produce a facade of apparent unity without really uniting men on a deep level.  We are all alike in our aloneness at the deepest level, yet most of us try to distract ourselves from awareness of this in the ways Pascal called "divertissement," the "occupations and recreations so mercifully provided by society, which enable a man to avoid his own company for twenty-four hours a day."

~ John Barbour

from The Value of Solitude

here quoting Thomas Merton

A human being is part of the whole, called by us “universe,” 

a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, 

as something separate from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. 

This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires 

and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. 

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison 

by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures 

and the whole of nature in its beauty.

~ Albert Einstein

awake awhile

Awake awhile.

It does not have to be

Forever,

Right now.

One step upon the Sky's soft skirt

Would be enough.

Hafiz,

Awake awhile.

Just one True moment of Love

Will last for days.

Rest all your elaborate plans and tactics

For Knowing Him,

For they are all just frozen spring buds

Far,

So far from Summer's Divine Gold.

Awake, my dear.

Be kind to your sleeping heart.

Take it out into the vast fields of Light

And let it breathe.

Say,

"Love,

Give me back my wings.

Lift me,

Lift me nearer."

Say to the sun and moon,

Say to our dear Friend,

"I will take You up now, Beloved,

On that wonderful Dance You promised."

~ Hafiz

each curve

There are so many positions of love:

each curve on a

branch,

the thousand ways your eyes can hold us,

the infinite shapes each mind

can draw,

the spring orchestra of scents and sounds wafting through the air,

the currents of light combusting like

passionate

lips,

the revolution of the universe’s skirt, whose folds

contain other worlds,

our every sigh that falls against

His inconceivably close,

omnipresent,

divine

body

~Hafiz

from Love Poems From God: 

Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West 
by Daniel Ladinsky

.

your beautiful parched, holy mouth

A poet is someone

Who can pour Light into a spoon,

Then raise it

To nourish

Your beautiful parched, holy mouth.

~ Hafiz

from I Heard God Laughing, Renderings of Hafiz

translation by Daniel Ladinsky

I knew we would be Friends

.

As soon as you opened your mouth

And I heard your soft

Sounds,

I knew we would be 

Friends.

The first time, dear pilgrim, I heard 

You laugh,

I knew it would not take me long

To turn you back into 

God.

.

~ Hafiz

from The Subject Tonight is Love

translation by Daniel Ladinsky

That sounds wonderful

.

.

Good poetry

Makes a beautiful naked woman

Materialize from

Words,

.

Who then says,

With a sword precariously waving

In her hands,

.

"If you look at my loins

I will cut off your head,

.

And reach down and grab your spirit

By its private parts,

.

And carry you off to heaven

Squealing in joy."

.

Hafiz says,

"That sounds wonderful, just

Wonderful.

.

Someone please - start writing

Some great

Lines."

.

- Hafiz

from: The subject tonight is love - versions by Daniel Ladinsky

.

I Follow Barefoot

.

.

I long for You so much

I follow barefoot Your frozen tracks

.

That are high in the mountains

That I know are years old.

.

I long for You so much

I have even begun to travel

Where I have never been before.

.

Hafiz, there is no one in this world

Who is not looking for God.

.

Everyone is trudging along

With as much dignity, courage

And style

.

As they possibly

Can.

.

~ Hafiz

(The Subject Tonight Is Love, version by Daniel Ladinsky)

..

BECOMING HUMAN

.

Once a man came to me and spoke for hours about

“His great visions of God” he felt he was having.

.

He asked me for confirmation, saying,

“Are these wondrous dreams true?”

.

I replied, “How many goats do you have?”

.

He looked surprised and said,

“I am speaking of sublime visions

And you ask 

About goats!”

.

And I spoke again saying,

“Yes, brother – how many do you have?”

.

“Well, Hafiz, I have sixty-two.”

.

“And how many wives?”

Again he looked surprised, then said,

“Four.”

.

“How many rose bushes in your garden,

How many children,

Are your parents still alive,

Do you feed the birds in winter?”

.

And to all he answered.

.

Then I said,

“You asked me if I thought your visions were true,

I would say that they were if they make you become

More human,

.

More kind to every creature and plant

That you know."

.

~ Hafiz

(“The Gift” – translated by Daniel Ladinsky)

the woman I love lives inside of you

Because the Woman I love lives

Inside of you,

I lean as close to your body with my words

As I can -

And I think of you all the time, dear pilgrim.

Because the One I love goes with you

Wherever you go,

Hafiz will always be near.

If you sat before me, wayfarer,

With your aura bright from your many

Charms,

My lips could resist rushing to you and needing

to befriend your blushed cheek,

But my eyes can no longer hide

The wondrous fact of who

You Really are.

The Beautiful One whom I adore

Has pitched His royal tent inside of you,

So I will always lean my heart

As close to your soul

As I can.

~ Hafiz

.

Two Bears

.

Once,
After a hard day's forage
Two bears sat together in silence
On a beautiful vista
Watching the sun go down
And feeling deeply grateful
For life.
.
Though, after a while
A thought -provoking conversation began
Which turned to the topic of
Fame.
.
The one bear said,
"Did you hear about Rustam?
He has become famous
And travels from city to city
In a golden cage;
.
He performs to hundreds of people
Who laugh and applaud
His carnival
Stunts."
.
The other bear thought for
A few seconds
.
Then started
Weeping.
.

~ Hafiz

.

Don't surrender your loneliness

.

Don't surrender your loneliness

So quickly.

Let it cut more deep.

.

Let it ferment and season you

As few human

Or even divine ingredients can.

.

Something missing in my heart tonight

Has made my eyes so soft,

My voice

So tender,

.

My need of God

Absolutely

Clear.

.

~ Hafiz

.

in His orchestra

We all
Sit in His orchestra,
Some play their
Fiddles,

Some wield their
Clubs.

Tonight is worthy of music.

Let's get loose
With
Compassion,
Let's drown in the delicious
Ambience of
Love.




~ Hafiz
art by Shahid Zuberi

time of judging

The time of judging
Who is drunk or sober,
Who is right and who is wrong
Who is closer to god, and who is farther away
All that is over

This caravan is led instead by a great delight,
The simple joy that sits with us now

That is the grace

~ Hafiz

into the Great Circle inside of You.

Leave the familiar for a while.

Let your senses and bodies stretch out

Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new water-mark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.
Change rooms in your mind for a day.
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.
All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.
.
~ Hafiz

"oh please, oh please come out and play."

We have not come here to take prisoners

But to surrender ever more deeply
to freedom and joy.

We have not come into this exquisite world
to hold ourselves hostage from love. Run, my dear,
from anything that may not strengthen
your precious budding wings,

Run like hell, my dear,
from anyone likely to put a sharp knife
into the sacred, tender vision
of your beautiful heart.

We have a duty to befriend
those aspects of obedience
that stand outside of our house
and shout to our reason
"oh please, oh please
come out and play."

For we have not come here to take prisoners,
or to confine our wondrous spirits,
But to experience ever and ever more deeply
our divine courage, freedom,
and Light!

~ Hafiz

Because the woman i love lives inside you,

I lean as close to your body with my words as i can-

and I think of you all the time..

 

~ Hafiz

.