c. 1368 / Shiraz

A Great Secret

Tags:: Hafiz,; life is too sacred to end,; poetry,; sacred text

If this world
Was not held in God’s bucket

How could an ocean stand upside down
On its head and never lose a drop?

If your life was not contained in God’s cup

How could you be so brave and laugh,
Dance in the face of death?

Hafiz,
There is a private chamber in the soul
That knows a great secret

Of which no tongue can speak.

Your existence my dear, O love my dear,
Has been sealed and marked

“Too sacred,” “too sacred,” by the Beloved—
To ever end!

Indeed God
Has written a thousand promises
All over your heart

That say,
Life, life, life,
Is far too sacred to
Ever end.

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Published In

Religion

About the Author

Hafiz, “God’s Bucket.” Hafiz sang the praises of multiple rulers at the court of Shiraz while also lecturing on theology. It is said that after Tamerlane took over Persia, he made a visit to Shiraz to spend time with the great poet; the conqueror remained there for two months.

Religion! How it dominates man’s mind, how it humiliates and degrades his soul. God is everything, man is nothing, says religion. But out of that nothing God has created a kingdom so despotic, so tyrannical, so cruel, so terribly exacting that naught but gloom and tears and blood have ruled the world since gods began.