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The Pearl on the Ocean Floor

by Hafiz
(1320 - 1389) Timeline

English version by
Rober Bly

Original Language
Persian/Farsi

Muslim / Sufi
14th Century

We have turned the face of our dawn studies toward the drunkard's road.
The harvest of our prayers we've turned toward the granary of the ecstatic soul.

The fire toward which we have turned our face is so intense
It would set fire to the straw harvest of a hundred reasonable men.

The Sultan of Pre-Eternity gave us the casket of love's grief as a gift;
Therefore we have turned our sorrow toward this dilapidated traveller's cabin that we call "the world."

From now on I will leave no doors in my heart open for love of beautiful creatures;
I have turned and set the seal of divine lips on the door of this house.

It's time to turn away from make-believe under our robes patched so many times.
The foundation for our work is an intelligence that sees through all these games.

We have turned our face to the pearl lying on the ocean floor.
So why then should we worry if this wobbly old boat keeps going or not?

We turn to the intellectuals and call them parasites of reason;
Thank God they are like true lovers faithless and without heart.

The Sufis have settled for a fantasy, and Hafez is no different.
How far out of reach our goals, and how weak our wills are!

 

 

-- from The Soul is Here for its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures, Edited by Robert Bly

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Awakening
  Dawn
  Fire
  Heart
  Lover and Beloved


Recommended Books


Drunk on the Wine of Beloved: 100 Poems of Hafiz, by Thomas Rain Crowe
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master, by Daniel Ladinsky
The Hafez Poems of Gertrude Bell: With the Original Persian on the Facing Page, by Gertrude Bell
Hafez: Teachings of the Philosopher of Love, by Haleh Pourafzal
The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, with Lectures by Inayat Khan, Translated by Coleman Barks

More >>

 

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.