The 13th century Persian Sufi poet Hafiz has been one of my favorite poets. Hafiz was a moulana in a mosque in Iran. His extreme liberality drew him the ire of the Islamic establishment of his time. I have given below some English translations of his poems taken from the book "The Gift". One wonders what the relationship between Hindus and Muslims would have been if the Hafiz brand of Islam had gained dominance.

Definition of Love:

*Even after all this time

the Sun has never told the Earth

"You owe me",

look what happens

with a love like that,

it lights the whole sky.*

Attitude towards God (as a lover):

*Like a pair

of mismatched newlyweds,

one of which still feels very insecure,

I keep turning to God

saying,"Kiss Me".*

Attitude towards God (as a lover):

*When no one is looking

I swallow deserts and clouds

and chew on mountains knowing

they are sweet bones!

When no one is looking, and I want

to kiss God

I just lift my own hand

to my mouth*

Attitude towards God (as parent):

*The tide of my love

has risen so high let me flood over you.

Close your eyes for a moment

and maybe all your fears and fantasies

will end.

If that happened

God would become an infant in your

arms.

And then you

would have to nurse all

creation!*

Attitude towards God (as oneself):

*At some point

your relationship

with God will

become like this:

next time you meet Him in the forest

or in a crowded city street

there won't be anymore

"leaving."

That is, God will climb into

your pocket, you will simply just take

yourself along!*

Attitude towards God (You are IT!)

*God disguised

as a myriad things and

playing a game

of tag,

has kissed you and said,

"you are it-

I mean, you're Really IT!"

Now

it does not matter

what you believe or feel

for something wonderful,

major-league wonderful

is someday going

to

happen.*

God's presence inside a human being (1):

*It used to be

that when I would wake in the morning

I could with confidence say,

"What am 'I' going to

do?"

That was before the seed

cracked open.

Now Hafiz is certain:

There are two of us housed

in this body,

doing the shopping in the market and

tickling each other

while fixing the evening's food.

Now when I awake

all the internal instruments play the same music:

"God, what love-mischief can 'We' do

for the world

today?"*

God's presence inside a human being (2):

*Once someone asked me,

"Why do saints seek divine annihilation

and are often humble

and like to spend their free time

upon their knees?"

I replied,

"It is a simple matter of etiquette,"

Then they said,

"What do you mean, Hafiz?"

"Well," I continued,

"When one goes into a mosque or temple

is it not common to remove what

covers your

feet?

So too does it happen

with this whole mind and body -

that is something like a shoe sole -

when one begins to realize

upon whom you are really standing,

one begins

to remove the 'shoe' from the

temple"*

About seeing God:

*Running

through the streets

screaming,

throwing rocks through windows,

using my own head to ring

great bells,

pulling out my hair,

tearing off my clothes,

tying everything I own

to a stick,

and setting it on

fire.

What else can Hafiz do tonight

to celebrate the madness,

the joy,

of seeing God

everywhere!*

About seeing God (2):

*There

I bow my head -

at the feet of every creature.

This constant submission and homage,

of kissing God

all over,

someday

every lover will

do.

Only

there I postrate myself-

against the beauty of each form-

for which I bring

my heart close to any object

I always hear the Friend

say,

"Hafiz, I am

here"* Nature of God as love:

*We

are not

in pursuit of formalities

or fake religious

laws,

for through the stairway of existence

we have come to God's

door.

We are

people who need to love, because

love is the souls's life,

love is simply creation's greatest joy,

through

the stairway of existence,

O, through the stairway of existence, Hafiz,

have

you now come,

have we all now come to

the Beloved's

door.*

Hafiz on Nature of God:

*Every

child

has known God,

Not the God of names,

not the God of don'ts,

not the God who ever does

anything weird,

but the God who only knows four words

and keeps repeating them, saying:

"Come dance with Me."

Come

dance.*

Hafiz's attitude towards Religions:

*The

great religions are the

ships,

poets the life

boats.

Every sane person I know has jumped

overboard.

That is good for business

isn't it

Hafiz?*

Hafiz's attitude towards Religions:

*I

have

learned

so much from God

that I can no longer

call

myself

a Christian, a Hindu, a muslim,

a Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself

with me

that I can no longer call myself

a man, a woman, an angel,

or even pure

Soul.

Love has

befriended Hafiz so completely

it has turned to ash

and freed

me

of every concept and image

my mind has ever known.*

Hafiz's attitude about Buddha

*Hafiz

tonight as you sit with your

young students

who

have eyes

burning like coals for the truth,

raise your glass in honor

of the old Great One from Asia,

speak in the beautiful style

and precision wit of a

Japanese verse,

say a profound truth about this path

with the edge of your sailor's tongue that

has been honed on the finest sake.

Okay, dear ones, are you ready?

Are you braced?

Well then:

Who can hear the Buddha sing,

If that dog between your legs is barking?

Who can hear the Buddha sing

if that canine between your

thighs

still

wants to do circus

tricks?*

Hafiz's attitude about Krishna

*Something

in your soul trusts

me

otherwise it would not let you near

these words.

God has spilled a Great One

into each of us,

this warrior is always fearless

but also always

kind.

The only business I am concerned

with these days,

since I heard the moon's drunk

singing

is

stealing

back our flute from*

Hafiz's attitude about death:

*How

fascinating the idea of death

can be.

Too bad, though,

because

it just isn't

True.*