Poetry by Hafez


Khwaja Shams ud Din Muhammad Hafez of Shiraz


I should not make any promises right now
But I know if you Pray
Somewhere in this world
Something good will happen.

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Now is the time to know
That everything you do
Is sacred

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The words you speak
Become the house you live in

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Stay close to anything
That makes you glad
You are alive

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Your heart and
My heart are
Very very old friends

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When all your desires are distilled
You will cast just two votes
To love more and be happy

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Ever since happiness heard your name
It has been running through the streets
Trying to find you

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We don't need sugar, flour or rice
Or anything else
We just want to see our dear ones

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Even after all this time
The sun never says "you owe me"
Look what happens with a love like that
It lights the whole sky.

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I wish I could show you
When you are lonely
Or in darkness,
At the astonishing light
Of your own being

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This place where you are right now
God circled on a map for you

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I should not make any promises right now
But I know if you pray
Somewhere in this world
Something good will happen

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What one heart can do for another heart
Is there any beauty in the world that can match this ?

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Let tenderness pour from your eyes
The way sun gazes warmly on Earth

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A day of silence
Can be a pilgrimage
in itself A day of silence
Can help you listen
To the soul play
Its marvelous lute and drum

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We have not come into this exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from love
We have not come here to take prisoners
But to surrender ever more deeply
To freedom and joy