I‘ve been introduced to a poet who has captured my heart. Let me introduce you to the wonderful Hafiz, also known as Shams-ud-din Muhammad (c.1320-1389), beloved Persian Poet. He’s a famous spiritual teacher and literary mystic. Ralph Waldo Emerson called Hafiz “a poet for poets.” Sherlock Holmes quotes Hafiz, Johannes Brahms put serveral lines into his compositions, and Queen Victoria is said to have “consulted the works of Hafiz in times of need.” Here is one of my favorites from his work “I Heard God Laughing – Poems of Hope and Joy”
Someone Should Start Laughing
I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:
How are you?
I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:
What is God?
If you think the Truth can be known
from Words,
If you think that the Sun and the Ocean
Can pass through the tiny opening
Called the mouth,
O someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly laughing–
Now!
Juicy deliciousness! More to come from Hafiz.
Blessings and love!
About Valerie Sheppard
Wonderful!