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Sufi Thread

Floating_AbuFloating_Abu Veteran
edited May 2011 in Arts & Writings
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

Comments

  • 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
  • The Stairway of Existence

    We
    Are not
    In pursuit of formalities
    Or fake religious
    Laws,

    For through the stairway of existence
    We have come to God's
    Door.

    We are
    People who need to love, because
    Love is the soul's life,

    Love is simply creation's greatest joy.

    Through
    The stairway of existence,
    O, through the stairway of existence, Hafiz

    Have
    You now come,
    Have we all now come to
    The Beloved's
    Door.


    From “The Gift” by Daniel Ladinsky.
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