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
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
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
Tired of Speaking Sweetly



Love wants to reach out and manhandle us,

Break all our teacup talk of God.



If you had the courage and

Could give the Beloved His choice, some nights,

He would just drag you around the room

By your hair,

Ripping from your grip all those toys in the world

That bring you no joy.



Love sometimes gets tired of speaking sweetly

And wants to rip to shreds

All your erroneous notions of truth



That make you fight within yourself, dear one,

And with others,



Causing the world to weep

On too many fine days.



God wants to manhandle us,

Lock us inside of a tiny room with Himself

And practice His dropkick.



The Beloved sometimes wants

To do us a great favor:



Hold us upside down

And shake all the nonsense out.



But when we hear

He is in such a "playful drunken mood"

Most everyone I know

Quickly packs their bags and hightails it

Out of town.



From: 'The Gift'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
We Might Have To

Medicate You



Resist your temptation to lie

By speaking of separation from God,



Otherwise,

We might have to medicate

You.



In the ocean

A lot goes on beneath your eyes.



Listen,

They have clinics there too

For the insane

Who persist in saying things like:



"I am independent from the

Sea,



God is not always around



Gently

Pressing against

My body."



From: 'The Gift'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
A Potted Plant



I pull a sun from my coin purse each day.



And at night I let my pet the moon

Run freely into the sky meadow.



If I whistled,

She would turn her head and look at me.



If I then waved my arms,

She would come back wagging a marvelous tail

Of stars.



There are always a few men like me

In this world



Who are house-sitting for God.

We share His royal duties:



I water each day a favorite potted plant

Of His--

This earth.



Ask the Friend for love.

Ask Him again.



For I have learned that every heart will get

What it prays for

Most.



From: 'The Subject Tonight Is Love'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
No More Leaving



At

Some point

Your relationship

With God

Will

Become like this:



Next time you meet Him in the forest

Or on a crowded city street



There won't be anymore



"Leaving."



That is,



God will climb into

Your pocket.



You will simply just take



Yourself



Along!



From: 'The Gift'

Translated by Daniel Ladinsky