Poetry

Quotes from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
Penguin Compass, 1999

Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe Me."
Look what happens with a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.
(pg. 34)

You have paid all your dues many times.
Now let's get down to the real reason
Why we sit together and breathe
And begin laughing, the divine laughing,
Like great heroic women and magnificent strong men.
(pg. 38)

When all your desires are distilled
You will cast just two votes:
To love more,
And be happy.
(pg. 41)

The most difficult task in hunting you , God,
Is using those arrows and bow
You gave my heart.
They are made of water I aim
A great distance at the Sun.
(pg. 220)