The Thousand-Stringed Instrument

by Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)


Original Language English

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

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Recommended Books: Hafiz (Daniel Ladinsky)

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



The Thousand-Stringed