Poetry by Hafiz
If God Invited You
To a Party
by Hafiz
If God
Invited you to a party
And said,
“Everyone
In the ballroom tonight
Will be my special
Guest,”
How would you then treat them
When you
Arrived?
Indeed, indeed!
And Hafiz knows
There is no one in this world
Who
Is not upon
His Jeweled Dance
Floor.
I Know the Way You Can Get
by Hafiz
Renderings of Hafizby Daniel Ladinsky
I know the Way you Can Get
When you have not had a drink of Loving:
Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About the strange look that appears in you 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 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 how 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 I am a Sweet Old Vagabond
With and Infinite Leaking Barrel
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!