love says

  

.

I know of a place not ruled by flatness 
Or constant risings and depressions, 
and those alive are not afraid to die. 

There wild flowers come up through the leafy floor, 
and the fragrance of "I am he" floats on the wind.

...There the love bee stays deep inside the flower 
and cares for no other thing.


—Kabir

.  .  .

... love
Says,

"I will, I will take care of you,"

To everything that is
Near.


—Hafiz
The Gift
Daniel Ladinsky version

.

  

look

 

.

You Don't Have to Act Crazy Anymore -
We all know you were good at that.
 

Now retire, my dear,
From all that hard work you do
Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.
 

Look in a clear mountain mirror -
See the Beautiful Ancient Warrior
And the Divine elements
You always carry inside
That infused this Universe with sacred Life
So long ago
And join you Eternally
With all Existence - with God!


—Hafiz
Daniel Ladinsky version

.

may your heart fly ...

 

.

The lily-perfumed wings of love
Will lay the dust of all your grief.
Patience my heart, and struggle on.

For when love binds,

It binds you to the tyranny of a racing steed,

And when love scatters,

It flings the soul-like fragments of the stars

Out of the ambergris scented woods.

Love makes of each moment an eternity

And tends the garden of the heart's desire.

When love mocks, ruby tears fall heavy as pomegranates

And when love looks, it sees your deepest mystery.

Love seeks out the tears of hidden hearts

And turns not from the Lovers of the Dawn.

Is there a remedy for the pain of love?

Or is it too unbearable for thought?

One taste of the medicine

And you will realize just how sick you have been.

Those who plead in the defense of love

In love's judgement shall find grace

And to that court, Hafiz

May your heart fly...


—Hafiz

.

the miraculous existence and impermanence of form

 

.

Death is a favour to us,
But our scales have lost their balance.

The impermanence of the body
Should give us great clarity, deepening the wonder in our
Senses and eyes
Of this mysterious existence we share
And surely are just traveling through.

If I were in the tavern tonight,
Hafiz would call for drinks
And as the Master poured, I would be reminded
That all I know of life and myself is that
We are just a mid-air flight of golden wine
Between His Pitcher and His cup.

If I were in the tavern to night,
I would buy freely for everyone in this world
Because our marriage with the Cruel Beauty
Of time and space cannot endure very long. 

Death is a favour to us,
But our minds have lost their balance. 

The miraculous existence and impermanence of
Form
Always makes the illumined ones
Laugh and sing.


—Hafiz

.

a sweet question

.

Skill in living, awareness of belonging to the world, delight in being part of the world, always tends to involve knowing our kinship as animals with animals… Relationship among all things appears to be complex and reciprocal - always at least two-way, back and forth. It seems that nothing is single in this universe, and nothing goes one way.

In this view, we humans appear as particularly lively, intense, aware nodes of relation in an infinite network of connections, simple or complicated, direct or hidden, strong or delicate, temporary or very long-lasting. A web of connections, infinite but locally fragile, with and among everything - all beings - including what we generally class as things, objects.


—Ursula K. Le Guin
Deep in Admiration (Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet)

. . .

These days I can see us clinging to each other as we are swept along by the current I am clinging to you to keep you from being swept away and you are clinging to me to keep me from being swept away from you we see the shores blurring past as we hold each other in the rushing current the daylight rushes unheard far above us how long will we be swept along in the daylight how long will we cling together in the night and where will it carry us together

—W.S. Merwin

Here Together
January 2016 

 . . .

The moon came to me last night
With a sweet question.

She said,
“The sun has been my faithful lover 
For millions of years.
Whenever I offer my body to him 
Brilliant light pours from his heart.
Thousands then notice my happiness 
And delight in pointing
toward my beauty.

Hafiz, 
Is it true that our destiny
Is to turn into Light
Itself?”

And I replied, 
"Dear moon, 
Now that your love is maturing,
We need to sit together
Close like this more often

So I might instruct you 
How to become
Who you
Are!"


—Hafiz

.

light enough

 

.

The wind and I could come by and carry
you the last part of your journey,

if you became light enough,
by just letting go of a few more of those things

you
are clinging to…that still believe in

gravity.


—Hafiz

.

travelers

.

Death is a favour to us,
But our scales have lost their balance.

The impermanence of the body
Should give us great clarity, deepening the wonder in our
Senses and eyes
Of this mysterious existence we share
And surely are just traveling through.

If I were in the tavern tonight,
Hafiz would call for drinks
And as the Master poured, I would be reminded
That all I know of life and myself is that
We are just a mid-air flight of golden wine
Between His Pitcher and His cup.

If I were in the tavern to night,
I would buy freely for everyone in this world
Because our marriage with the Cruel Beauty
Of time and space cannot endure very long. 

Death is a favour to us,
But our minds have lost their balance. 

The miraculous existence and impermanence of
Form
Always makes the illumined ones
Laugh and sing.


–Hafiz

.

dear ones

.

How
Fascinating the idea of death
Can be.

Too bad, though,
Because
It just is not
True.


–Hafiz

.

lightly

.

"Nothing is possible in love without death,” says the Sufi.
The soul’s love for God frees us from our self, and yet this freedom can seem like death, as we die to the person we think we are. Again and again we die to our limited sense of self in order to step into the vaster dimension of our being. This dying is what separates those who want security and stability from those who are reckless, crazy, or driven enough to venture into the depths.

What security is there for us here in her caravanserai
when every moment camel bells cry, “Pack up the loads!”?
The dark night, the fear of waves
the terrifying whirlpool,
how can they know of our state, those who go lightly along the shore?


–Hafiz

.

not to worry

.

 

All your pain, worry, sorrow
Will someday apologize and confess
They were a great lie.

—Hafiz

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thingsthatsing
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