Rumi has a companion - Hafiz. A new book of Sufi translations by Daniel Ladinsky, recently released, promises the familiar Coleman Bark's sparks. I picked it up from B&N this evening while browsing for floor plans of log cabins. I'm mesmerised by the wisdom....
-
-
-
A poet is someone
Who can pour light into a cup
Then raise it to nourish
Your beautiful, parched, holy mouth.
-
-
-
Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth
"You owe
Me."
Look what happens
With a love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.
-
-
-
What is this precious love and laughter
Budding in our hearts?
Is this the glorious sound
Of a soul waking up!
-
-
-I hear the voice
Of every creature and plant
Every world and sun and galaxy
Singing the Beloved's name!
-
-
-
Write a thousand luminous secrets
Upon the wall of existence
So that even a blind man will know
Where we are,
And join us in this love!
-
-
-
There are different cups within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that.
In one well
You have just a few precious cups of water,
That 'love' is literally something of yourself,
It can grow as slow as a diamond
If it is lost.
Your love
Should never be offered to the mouth of a
Stranger.
Only to someone
Who has the valour and daring
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife
Then weave them into a blanket
To protect you.
There are different wells within us.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far, far too deep
For that.
-
-
-
The tide of my love
has risen so high let me flood over
You.
Close your eyes for a moment
And maybe all your fears and fantasies
Will end.
If that happened
God would become an infant in your
Arms
And then you
WOuld have to nurse all
Creation!
-
-
-
Someone put
You on a slave block
And the unreal bought
You.
Now I keep coming to your owner
Saying,
"This one is mine."
You often overhear us talking
And this can make your heart leap
With ecstasy.
Don't worry,
I will not let sadness
Possess you.
I will gladly borrow all the gold
I need
To get you
Back.
-
-
-
Like
A pair
Of mismatched newlyweds,
One of whom still feels very insecure,
I keep turning to Him
Saying,
"Kiss
Me."
- Hafiz |
