GREAT POEMS
O Master, You are so gracious. After all these years You still
Remember who I am: the one who wears the dust of Your door like a crown.
Tell me, who taught You to be so generous to Your slaves?
Don't worry, I won't tell those spies who are watching Your every move.
O Holy Bird, please bless this path I'm on,
For I'm new to this traveling, and it's a long way I have to go.
O morning breeze, take my prayers to the Master,
And tell Him that each day I am on my knees at dawn.
I yearn for the day when I will leave this house and head out on the road.
When that day comes, friends will wonder where I've gone.
O give me the secret map to the place where I can drink wine with You,
For in that place only can I be drunk, and in my drunkenness be free.
Only great poems can capture the hearts of those who don't read;
So poets, sing! Let the God-of-Oceans fill your mouth with pearls.
O Hafiz, if you are seeking the pearl of union, do this:
From tears, make yourself an ocean and then dive!
Hafiz (1310-1369),Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved: Poems of Hafiz
