Another favorite Hafez poem, it ends as it begins. It is performed beautifully here by Seyyed Khalil Alinejad. Translation: I fear my tears may tear the veil of my love for you and this sealed secret became a legend the whole world through They say a stone becomes a ruby in the station of…
Rumi: Dead yet I was, then came to life…
One of my favorite poems of Rumi’s, its rhythm is intoxicating: Translation (some liberties taken to approximate the rhythm of the original): Dead yet I was, then came to life, weeping I was, then came to laugh Love’s kingdom came, I came to be, the kingdom of eternity My eye is full, my soul is…
Rumi and Hakuin: Water and Ice
Hakuin All beings by nature are Buddha, As ice by nature is water. Apart from water there is no ice; Apart from beings, no Buddha. How sad that people ignore the near And search for truth afar: Like someone in the midst of water Crying out in thirst, Like a child of a wealthy home…
Me/not Me
Shah Niyaz Barelvi A lover without news I am I am not I, yet I am I A Knower with art I am I am not I, nay I am I Burning of the heart and liver I am Restless in seclusion I am knowledgeable of all cures I am I am not I, nay…
Three more ghazals of Hafez
Three more gems, back to back in his Divan: Translation: O you whose road-dust is the blood-price of China musk and in whose crown’s shade the sun is tenderly nurtured Strut out, for the narcissus’ pride is getting to be too much I would die for the way your dark eyes look Go ahead and…
Keats and the Sufis
these poems by John Keats pair nicely with the following poems by Ibn al-Farid and Hafez John Keats “Fill for me a brimming bowl” What wondrous beauty! From this moment I efface from my mind all women. Terrence, Eunuch, II.3.296 Fill for me a brimming bowl And in it let me drown my soul: But put therein…
Hafez and Surah Qadr
There’s a close relationship between Hafez’s poetry and the Qur’an, and it’s seldom as explicit as in the poem below: Translation: This is the night of union and the tale of separation is at an end Therein is peace until the break of dawn. O heart, be steadfast in love For on this path, no work is without…
Hafez taught me: Three Great Ghazals
These three wonderful ghazals are right next to one another in Hafez’s Divan: Ghazal 344: Translation: With your black eyelashes, you poked thousands of holes in my faith Come, let me pick thousands of pains from your lovesick eyes. O companion of the heart who has forgotten your friends Let there be no…
Ghazal #1 of Hafez’s Divan
This first Ghazal of Hafiz’s Divan is as mysterious as it is beautiful and wise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo5YGfMeElg Translation: O Saqi, come pass the cup ’round and fill it up for love seemed easy at first, but then came difficulties Longing for the sweet scent the morning wind unlocks from her locks …
Hafez sung beautifully
This is one of the most beautiful recordings of Hafez’s ghazals that I’ve ever heard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHMjOCOJ1oA Translation: As long as there is a name and sign on the tavern My head will be dust on the road of the Magian Pīr The ring of the Magian Pīr has been in my ear since…