And now,
Dear one,
I want to read to you words of Hafiz,
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky.
Don't surrender your loneliness so quickly.
Let it cut you more deep.
Let it ferment and season you,
As few humans or even divine ingredients can.
I know the way you can get,
When you have not had a drink of love.
Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp,
Children become concerned about a strange look that appears in your eyes,
Which even begins to worry your own mirror and nose.
Squirrels and birds sense your sadness and call an important conference in a tall tree.
They decide which secret code to chant to help your mind and soul.
Oh,
I know the way you can get,
If you have not been drinking love.
You might rip apart every sentence your friends and teachers say,
Looking for hidden clauses.
You might weigh every word on a scale,
Like a dead fish.
You might pull out a ruler to measure from every angle in your darkness,
The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once trusted.
I know the way you can get,
If you have not had a drink from love's hands.
What happens when your soul begins to awaken,
Your eyes and your heart and the cells of your body,
To the great journey of love?
You don't have to act crazy anymore.
We all know you were good at that.
Now retire,
My dear,
From all the hard work you do,
Of bringing pain to your sweet eyes and heart.
Look in a clear mountain mirror,
See the beautiful ancient warrior and the divine elements you always carry inside,
That infused this universe with sacred life so long ago and join you eternally with all existence.
One day the sun admitted,
I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you the infinite incandescence that has cast my brilliant image.
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in darkness,
The astonishing light of your own being.
One regret,
Dear world,
That I am determined not to have,
When I am lying on my deathbed,
Is that I did not kiss you enough.
