A Poem of Hafiz, A Teaching of Paul (Revisiting a 2009 Post)

Would You Think It Odd? *

 

Would you think it odd if Hafiz said,

 

"I am in love with every church
And mosque
And temple
And any kind of shrine

 

Because I know it is there
That people say the different names
Of the One God."

 

Would you tell your friends
I was a bit strange if I admitted

 

I am indeed in love with every mind
And heart and body.

 

O I am sincerely
Quite crazy
About your every thought and yearning
And limb

 

Because, my dear,
I know
That it is through these

 

That you search for Him.

 

 

The Apostle Paul, in Colossians 3

 

[Y]ou laid aside the old self, with its evil practices,
and put on the new self
who is being renewed to a true knowledge
according to the image of the One who created him—

 

a renewal in which there is no distinction
between Greek and Jew,
circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman,
but Christ is all, and in all.

 

And so,
as those who have been chosen of God,
holy and beloved,
put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility,
gentleness, and patience;
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other,
whoever has a complaint against anyone;
just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you [forgive].

 

And beyond all these things,
put on love,
which is the perfect bond of unity.
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body,
and be thankful.
 

 

* From I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy (1996, 2006), poems of Hafiz as freely interpreted in English by Daniel Ladinsky.