Translation: Lions turn to foxes in the desert of your love What a road! there is no danger which does not lurk there. Original: شیر در بادیه عشق تو روباه شود آه از این راه که در وی خطری نیست که نیست Translation: The ups and downs of the desert of love are…
Blow winds, blow
Ḥallāj: Translation (a bit of license taken): O wind of the dawn, I say to the gazelle it only makes me thirstier, the water of this well I have a beloved whose love lives within me And if she likes, she walks on my cheeks as well Her spirit is my spirit and my…
Cristina Branco and Hafez
Cristina Branco “Vida Triste” Translation: Condemned to live sad Is he who loves much. You, my heart, never withstood The love that the pain inflames. Again my tortured heart Sought shelter in thy breast, uselessly; No one will console the burning thirst Nor is it is satisfied with the delights of passion. And always, for…
Love’s Martyr: Qutb ad-Din Bakhtiar Kaki
The great Indian Sufi shaykh, disciple of Mu’in ad-Din Chisti and master to Baba Farid, is said to have heard the following verses during a qawwali performance: كشتگان خنجر تسليم را هر زمان از غيب جان ديگر است For the victims of the dagger of surrender There is new life at…
Rumi-Your hair is Laylat al-Qadr
Translation: It’s morning and there’s wine so we’re going to stand on the sky We’re going to go beyond Taurus to the constellation of the moon We’re not looking for a fight, and have nothing to say about others For it’s time for union, and with that we’ll be glad Your face is a…
Hafez on Laylat al-Qadr
Translation: Last night, at the moment of dawn, they saved me from sorrow And in the darkness of night, they gave me the water of life By the rays of the light of the Essence they made me selfless They gave me wine from the cup of the radiance of the Attributes What a…
Hafez on Ramadan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or3Jxc76wtA Translation: In the month of Sha’aban, do not neglect the glass of wine This sun will disappear untl the ‘Eid of Ramadan Original: ماه شعبان منه از دست قدح کاین خورشید از نظر تا شب عید رمضان خواهد شد Translation: Come…
Rumi: By love
Translation: By love, the bitter becomes sweet By love copper coins become gold By love, the dregs become clear By love, the pain becomes healing By love, the dead is made living By love, the king is made a slave And this love is the result of knowledge Who, in foolishness, ever sat on such…
Hafez: We are Red Lions, Black Cobras
A new favorite from Hafez… Translation: Although we are the king’s slaves We are the sovereigns of the kingdom of the dawn With treasure in our sleeves and holes in our pockets We are the surface of the world-seeing cup and the dust of the road Awake with presence, yet drunk with…
Love beyond words…
Ibn al-Fāriḍ In the art of describing his beauty, time itself expires and yet still there remains in him, what has not been described وعـلى تَـفَنّنِ واصِـفيهِ بِحُسْنِهِ يَـفنى الـزّمانُ وفيه ما لم يُوصف Anon. A robe woven from the cloth of 29 letters would still fall short of…