O Beloved, You are so gracious......by Hafiz

O Beloved, 
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 Beloved,
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
Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved: 100 Poems of Hafiz
(translated by Thomas Rain Crowe)
Shambala, Boston, 2001