Bring some peace......by Hafez

Build a House
for men and birds.

Sit with them
and play music.

For a day,
for just one day,

talk about that
which disturbs no one

and bring
some peace,

my friend,
into your beautiful eyes.

~ Hāfez,
From The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz

I lean as close to your body with my words As I can.......by Hafez

Because the Woman I love lives
Inside of you,

I lean as close to your body with my words
As I can

And I think of you all the time, dear pilgrim.

Because the One I love goes with you
Wherever you go,
Hafiz will always be near.

If you sat before me, wayfarer,
With your aura bright from your many
Charms,

My lips could resist rushing to you and needing
To befriend your blushed cheek,

But my eyes can no longer hide
The wondrous fact of who
You Really are.

The Beautiful One whom I adore
Has pitched His royal tent inside of you,

So I will always lean my heart
As close to your soul
As I can.

~ Hafez
“The Woman I Love” by Hafiz,
translated by Daniel Ladinsky
from The Subject Tonight is Love by Daniel Ladinsky,
published by Penguin Compass. Copyright © 2003 by Daniel Ladinsky

The Ambience of Love......by Hafez

We All

Sit in His orchestra,

Some play their
Fiddles,

Some wield their
Clubs,

Tonight is worthy of music.

Let's get loose
With
Compassion,

Let's drown in the delicious
Ambience of
Love.

~ Hafiz
"The Ambience of Love"
from The Gift
Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

I have made the journey into Nothing......by Hafiz

I have made the journey into Nothing.
I have lit that lamp that
Needs no oil.

I have cried great streams
Of emerald crystals
On my scarred knees, begging love

To never again let me hear from
Any world

The sound of my own name,
Even from the voice of divine thought

Or see that pen you gave me, God,
In the sun's or sky's skillful hand
Writing
Anything other than the word
ONE.

I have made the journey into Nothing
I have become the flame that needs
No fuel.

Beloved,
Now what need is there to ever
Call for Hafiz?

For if you did,
I would just step out
of YOU.

~ Hafiz
from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master,
by Daniel Ladinsky

Imagine by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky

Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

~ John Lennon - Imagine

The Light is the soul's food....by Rumi

Intelligence is the feast, not bread and roast meat:
the light of intelligence, my son, is the soul’s food.
Man has no food but the Light
the soul doesn’t obtain nourishment from anything but that.

Little by little cut yourself off from these material foods—
for they are the food of an ass, not that of a free man—
so that you might become capable
of absorbing that original food
and become accustomed to eating delicate morsels of Light.

It’s from the reflection of that Light
that this bread has become bread;
it’s from the overflowing of that rational soul
that this animal soul has become soul.

Once you eat of the Light
you won’t be attached to the bread and oven.

~ Rumi
( Mathnawi IV : 1954-1959 )
From The Rumi Daybook

My heart, sit only with those who know and understand you......by Rumi

My heart, sit only with those
who know and understand you.

Sit only under a tree
that is full of blossoms.

In the bazaar of herbs and potions,
don't wander aimlessly --
find the shop with a potion that is sweet.

If you don't have a measure
people will rob you in no time.

You will take counterfeit coins
thinking they are real.

Don't fill your bowl with food
from every boiling pot you see.

Not every joke is humorous, so don't search
for meaning where there is none.

Not every eye can see,
not every sea is full of pearls.

My heart, sing the song of longing
like nightingale.

The sound of your voice casts a spell
on every stone, on every thorn.

First, lay down your head
then one by one
let go of all distractions.

Embrace the light and let it guide you
beyond the winds of desire.

There you will find a spring
and nourished by its sea waters
like a tree you will bear fruit forever.

~ Rumi
Rumi. "The Hidden Music."
Trans. by Maryam Mafi & Azima Melita Kolin