Hafiz

I've long been moved by Sufi poets such as Rumi and Hafiz. Recently I purchased I Heard God Laughing, Poems of Hope and Joy," by Hafiz rendered by Daniel Ladinsky. Each page is a work of inspiration. Here I'm sharing two for your contemplation. Warning, your life might be changed and you might need to get a copy of the book.

Keeping Watch

In the morning

When I began to wake,

It happened again ---

That feeling

That You, Beloved,

Had stood over me all night

Keeping watch,

That feeling

That as soon as I began to stir

You put Your lips on my forehead

And lit a Holy Lamp

Inside my heart.

A Golden Compass

Forget every idea of right and wrong

Any classroom ever taught you

Because

An empty heart, A tormented mind,

Unkindness, jealousy and fear

Are always the testimony

You have been completely fooled!

Turn your back in those

Who would imprison your wondrous spirit

With deceit and lies.

Come, join the courageous

Who have no choice

But to bet their entire world

That indeed, 

Indeed, God is Real.

I will lead you into the Circle

Of the Beloved's cunning thieves,

Those playful royal rogues ---

The ones you can trust for true guidance ---

Who can aid you

In this Blessed Calamity of life.

Hafiz,

Look at the Perfect One

At the Circle's Center:

He Spins and Whirls like a Golden Compass,

Beyond all that is rational,

To show this dear world

That Everything,

Everything in Existence

Does point to God.