I'm a big fan of Hafiz (or Hafez), a Persian poet who lived 1325-1389 CE.Sometimes, when I am completely stressed out, I open a book of his poems and read. I always come away refreshed and enlightened.
Here is one for you today, translated and re-imagined by Daniel Ladinsky, called 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 cahng
To help your mind and soul.
Even angels fear that brand of madness
That arrays itself against the world
 |
| Tomb of Hafiz in Shiraz. |
That innocent
And into one's self.
O I know the way you can get
If you have not been out 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 getIf 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 I am a Sweet Old Vagabond
With an Infinite Leaking Barral
Of Light and Laughter and Truth
That the Beloved has tied to my back.
Dear one,
Indeed, please bring your heart near me.
For all I care about is quenching your thirst for freedom!
All a Sane man can ever care about
Is giving Love!
