When I want to kiss God

When
No one is looking
I swallow deserts and clouds
and chew on mountains knowing
they are sweet
Bones!
When no one is looking and I want
to kiss
God
I just lift my own hand
to
my
mouth.

tr. David Ladinsky - "The Gift"

 

 

In search of the Grail

For years my heart was in search of the Grail
What was inside me, it searched for, on the trail

That pearl that transcends time and place
Sought of divers whom oceans sail

My quest to the Magi my path trace
One glance solved the riddles that I Braille

Found him wine in hand and happy face
In the mirror of his cup would watch a hundred detail

I asked, "when did God give you this Holy Grail?"
Said, "on the day He hammered the world’s first nail!"

Even the unbeliever had the support of God
Though he could not see, God’s name would always hail.

All the tricks of the mind would make God seem like fraud
Yet the Golden Calf beside Moses’ rod would just pale.

And the one put on the cross by his race
His crime, secrets of God would unveil

Anyone who is touched by God’s grace
Can do what Christ did, without fail.

And what of this curly lock that’s my jail
Said this is for Hafiz to tell his tale.

tr. Shahriar Shahriari

 

How long?

How long must I sit here in the corner of this dark home
waiting for God?
Biting my fingers, head on my knees, grieving...

I gave up patience when, like a wolf, I got cornered in a
lion's den.
I gave up reason when, in the dove's nest, a crow began to
sing.

O blessed Bird, come again and sing to me of better days;
Of the past, and of the future to which we will return.

tr. Thomas Rain Crowe - 'In Wineseller's Street'

 

Once again

Once again, Winegiver
I am here.
Once again, take this
my empty cup
and fill it full again.

For the road ahead is long and difficult
and full of temptations.

Once again, I am here!
What you pour,
I will drink.

At first it seemed easy.
Easy and sweet, as the breath of a rose.
Easy and sweet,
as the honeybee's temptation.

But difficulties have occurred.
How could they have known?
How could I have remembered
in the hubbub of departure?

How could I have remembered
through hills and valleys,
through the windings of the way
and then
the terror of the tornado.

And the rumors of the way ahead;
the heat, the dust, the bandits.

Fill again this cup;
this cup of remembrance,
this cup of forgetfulness.
Fill this cup
that I may drink it
now.

Surely there are guides
who for a small fee
will tell us of the way ahead,
but none
who have gone and returned.

We must push on
and take with us
this Wine
or we will lose hope.
What say you Winegiver?
Where does one find courage
for the road ahead?

We shall change
all of our goods
for Wine.
They will not rob mere drunks.
What can they take
but Wine?

Winegiver, fill this cup again!

tr. Truesong

 

Of Wills and Immortals

They came just before dawn, as in grief I did plead;
I drank life's elixir and watched darkness recede.

They turned me ecstatic in the brightness of soul,
gave me wine from cup of the awakening seed.

Such a blessed dawn and such a time to rejoice -
that moment divine they handed down my fresh deed,

Henceforth I'll search mirror of beloved's image
where they did appear and my new essence decreed.

I'm cheered, it's no mystery my desires are fulfilled;
they found me worthy and my starvation did feed.

That angelic voice told me of riches to come
through patience in the face of suffering and need.

All this sweetness and nectar that flow from my words
are enduring rewards given me by that weed.

Through the will of Hafez and souls of immortals
emerges liberation - from slavery I'm freed.

tr. Haleh Pourafzal and Roger Montgomery -

'The Spiritual Wisdom of Hafez'

 

 

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.

Tr. Daniel Ladinsky - 'The Gift'