IN NEED OF THE BREATH

My heart
Is an unset jewel
Upon the tender night
Yearning for its dear old friend
The Moon.

When the Nameless One debuts again
Ten thousand facets of my being unfurl wings
And reveal such a radiance inside
I enter a realm divine -
I too begin so sweetly cast light,
Like a lamp,
Through the streets of this
World.

My heart is an unset jewel
Upon existence
Waiting for the Friend's touch.

Tonight
My heart is an unset ruby
Offered bowed and weeping to the Sky.

I am dying in these cold hours
For the resplendent glance of God.

I am dying
Because of a divine remembrance
Of who - I really am.

Hafiz, tonight,
Your soul
Is a brilliant reed instrument

In need of the breath of the
Christ.

(Hafiz)

'The Gift' Poems by Hafiz - translations by Daniel Ladinsky