Hafiz

"For centuries, Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz (c. 1320 - 1389) has been a magnificent friend to the human spirit.  To millions throughout the world the poems of Hafiz are not a classical work from the past, but cherished love, music, wisdom, and humor from a dear companion. These extraordinary verses bestow a precious knowledge.  With a wonderful - at times outrageous - genius Hafiz brings us nearer to God.  This Persian master is a profound champion of freedom; he constantly encourages our hearts to dance!"       HZ2-00

See also:  http://www.hafizonlove.com/bio/index.htm

And: http://www.thesongsofhafiz.com/index.htm

SOME FILL WITH EACH GOOD RAIN

There are different wells within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that.

In one well
You have just a few precious cups of water,

That "love" is literally something of yourself,
It can grow as slow as a diamond
If it is lost.

Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a
Stranger,

Only to someone
Who has the valor and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife

Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.

There are different wells within us.

Some fill with each good rain,

Others are far, far too deep
For that.
                                                               HZ2 - 01

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A HEART?

Once a young woman asked me,

"How does it feel to be a man?"
And I replied,

"My dear,
I am not so sure."

Then she said,
"Well, aren't you a man?"

And this time I replied,

"I view gender
As a beautiful animal
That people often take for a walk on a leash
 And might enter in some odd contest
 To try to win strange prizes.

 My dear,
 A better question for Hafiz
 Would have been,

 'How does it feel to be a heart?'

 For all I know is Love,
 And I find my heart Infinite
 And Everywhere! "

                                                        HZ1 - 03

SILENCE

A day of Silence
Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence
Can help you listen
To the Soul play
Its marvelous lute and drum.

Is not most talking
A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came here
To surrender in Silence,

To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within
In celebration of Love's Victory!

                                               HZ1 - 01

                      WHAT HAPPENS

              What happens when your soul
                   Begins to awaken
                      Your eyes
                   And your heart
              And the cells of your body
             To the great Journey of Love?

           First there is wonderful laughter
             And probably precious tears

             And a hundred sweet promises
                And those heroic vows
                No one can ever keep.

         But still God is delighted and amused
             You once tried to be a saint.

             What happens when your soul
            Begins to awake in this world

              To our deep need to love
               And serve the Friend?

                  O the Beloved
                  Will send you
     One of His wonderful, wild companions -

                   Like Hafiz.

                                                           HZ1 - 02

WHY AREN'T WE

SCREAMING DRUNKS?

The sun once glimpsed God's true nature

And has never been the same.

Thus that radiant sphere

Constantly pours its energy

Upon this earth

As does He from behind the veil.

With a wonderful God like that

Why isn't everyone a screaming drunk?

Hafiz's guess is this:

Any thought that you are better or less

Than another man

Quickly

Breaks the wine

Glass.

                                                            HZ2 - 02

        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 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.

                                            HZ2 - 03  

    HOW FASCINATING

              How

Fascinating the idea of death

            Can be.

     Too bad, though,

          Because

         It just isn't

            True.

                                 HZ2 - 04

DON'T DIE AGAIN

I am a man
Who knows the ten thousand positions of
Divine love.

I can tell by the light in your eyes
That you are still most familiar
With the few earthly ones,

But would not a good father
Instruct all his heirs
Toward the path that will someday
Deeply satisfy?

This world is a treacherous place
And will surely slay and drown the lazy.

The only life raft here is love
And the Name.

Say it brother,
O, say the divine Name, dear sister,
Silently as you walk.

Don't die again
With that holy ruby mine inside
Still unclaimed

When you could be swinging
A golden pick with
Each Step.

                                                 HZ2 - 05

             THE SUN IN DRAG

           You are the Sun in drag.

     You are God hiding from yourself.

   Remove all the "mine" - that is the veil.

            Why ever worry about

                      Anything?

       Listen to what your friend Hafiz

                Knows for certain:

         The appearance of this world

Is a Magi's brilliant trick, though its affairs are

              Nothing into nothing.

  You are a divine elephant with amnesia

             Trying to live in an ant

                         Hole.

         Sweetheart, O sweetheart

                You are God in

                       Drag!
                                                 HZ2 - 06

  CAST ALL YOUR VOTES FOR DANCING

            I know the voice of depression
                        Still calls to you

     I know those habits that can ruin your life
                Still send their invitations.

           But you are with the Friend now
               And look so much stronger.

                   You can stay that way
                       And even bloom!

              Keep squeezing drops of the Sun
         From your prayers and work and music
   And from your companions' beautiful laughter.

             Keep squeezing drops of the Sun
From the sacred hands and glance of your Beloved
                           And, my dear,
        From the most insignificant movements
                   Of your own holy body.

         Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins
     That may buy you just a moment of pleasure,
                But then drag you for days
                      Like a broken man
                   Behind a farting camel.

              You are with the Friend now.
      Learn what actions of yours delight Him,
         What actions of yours bring freedom
                          And Love.

    Whenever you say God's name, dear pilgrim,
          My ears wish my head was missing
          So they could finally kiss each other
      And applaud all your nourishing wisdom!

         O keep squeezing drops of the Sun
      From your prayers and work and music
  And from your companions' beautiful laughter.

    And from the most insignificant movements
                Of your own holy body.

                    Now, sweet one,
                           Be wise.
          Cast all your votes for Dancing!

                                                      HZ1 - 04

     HOW DO  I LISTEN?

                 How

                 Do I

          Listen to others?

As if everyone were my Master

         Speaking to me

                 His

            Cherished

               Last

             Words.

                                      HZ2 - 07

      THE FISH AND I WILL CHAT

                           Once
                       In a while
              The fish and I will chat
                     In the silent
                      Language:

                       We look
       Into each other's eyes and smile,
                   And they often
                           Say,

                      "Hey, Hafiz
          We see you know the joy of
                    Our existence,

We see you have discovered how meditation
               Can free you from land,
            Mind, debts, alimony -- the
                    Whole works,

                      And like
                           Us

             Let you carouse all day
                           In

                         God."

      HZ2 - 08

           CASTRATING AN EGO

  The only problem with not castrating
                A gigantic ego is

  That it will surely become amorous
                     And father
 A hundred screaming ideas and kids

   Who will then all quickly grow up
           And skillfully proceed

     To run up every imaginable debt
 And complication of which your brain
                  Can conceive.

  This would concern normal parents
       And any seekers of freedom

    And the local merchants nearby
                       As well.

They could very easily become forced
            To disturb your peace;

All those worries and bills could turn to
                  Wailing ghosts.

  The only problem with not lassoing
               A runaway ego is

   You won't have much desire to sing
                    In this sweet
                        World.
       HZ3-01 

STOP BEING SO

RELIGIOUS

        What
 Do Sad people have in
     Common?

    It seems
  They have built a shrine
          To the past

And often go there
And do a strange wail and
           Worship.

 What is the beginning of
         Happiness?

    It is to stop being
       So religious

            Like

           That.
                                HZ2-09

HZ1 - I Heard God Laughing
      Renderings of Hafiz
      Daniel Ladinsky, Trans.
      Sufism Reoriented
      Walnut Creek  CA  94595
    - 01  p. 129

    - 02  p.   21

    - 03  p.   69

    - 04  p.   15

HZ2 - The Gift
      Poems by Hafiz The Great Sufi Master
      Daniel Ladinsky, Trans.
      Penguin Putnam Inc.
      New York  NY  10014

    - 00  preface
    - 01  p.   76

    - 02  p. 205

    - 03  p.   32

    - 04  p. 301

    - 05  p.   71

    - 06  p. 252
    - 07  p.   99

    - 08  p. 152

-09 p. 119

HZ3 - The Subject Tonight is Love
      Hafiz
      Daniel Ladinsky, Trans.
      Pumpkin House Press
  -  01 - p.   11