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The Thousand-Stringed Instrument

by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)
(1945? - ) Timeline

Original Language
English

Muslim / Sufi
Contemporary

The heart is
The thousand-stringed instrument.

Our sadness and fear come from being
Out of tune with love.

All day long God coaxes my lips
To speak,

So that your tears will not stain
His green dress.

It is not that the Friend is vain,
It is just your life we care about.

Sometimes the Beloved
Takes my pen in hand,
For Hafiz is just a simple man.

The other day the Old One
Wrote on the Tavern wall:

“The heart is
The thousand-stringed instrument

That can only be tuned with
Love.”

 

 

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

Amazon.com

 

Themes

  Heart
  Lover and Beloved
  Smile
  Tavern
 


Recommended Books


The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master, by Daniel Ladinsky
I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky
Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West, Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
The Subject Tonight Is Love: 60 Wild and Sweet Poems of Hafiz, by Daniel Ladinsky

 

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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.