It is always a danger To the aspirant On the Path When one begins To believe and Act As if the ten thousand idiots Who so long ruled And lived Inside Have all packed their bags And skipped town Or Died.

I know the way you can get When you have not had a drink of Love: Your face hardens, Your sweet muscles cramp. Children become concerned About a strange look that appears in your eyes Which even begins to worry your own mirror And nose. Squirrels and birds sense your sadness And call an important conference in a tall tree. They decide which secret code to chant To help your mind and soul. Even angels fear that brand of madness That arrays itself against the world And throws sharp stones and spears into The innocent And into one's self O I know the way you can get If you have not been out drinking Love: You might rip apart Every sentence your friends and teachers say, Looking for hidden clauses. You might weigh every word on a scale Like a dead fish. You might pull out a ruler to measure From every angle in your darkness The beautiful dimensions of a heart you once Trusted. I know the way you can get If you have not had a drink from Love's Hands. That is why all the Great Ones speak of The vital need To keep Remembering God, So you will come to know and see Him As being so Playful And Wanting, Just Wanting to help. That is why Hafiz says: Bring your cup near me, For I am a Sweet Old Vagabond With an Infinite Leaking Barrel Of Light and Laughter and Truth That the Beloved has tied to my back. Dear one, Indeed, please bring your heart near me. For all I care about Is quenching your thirst for freedom! All a Sane man can ever care about Is giving Love!

Zero Is where the Real Fun starts. There's too much counting Everywhere else!

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.

Noise Is a cruel ruler Who is always imposing Curfews, While Stillness and quiet Break open the vintage Bottles, Awake the real Band.

The Difference Between a good artist And a great one Is: The novice Will often lay down his tool Or brush Then pick up an invisible club On the mind's table And helplessly smash the easels and Jade. Whereas the vintage man No longer hurts himself or anyone And keeps on Sculpting Light.

Our Union is like this: You feel cold So I reach for a blanket to cover Our shivering feet. A hunger comes into your body So I run to my garden And start digging potatoes. You ask for a few words of comfort and guidance, I quickly kneel at your side offering you This whole book- As a gift. You ache with loneliness one night So much you weep And I say, Here's a rope, Tie it around me, Hafiz Will be your companion For life..

What Do sad people have in Common? It seems They have all built a shrine To the past And often go there And do a strange wail and Worship. What is the beginning of Happiness? It is to stop being So religious Like That.

The small man Builds cages for everyone He Knows. While the sage, Who has to duck his head When the moon is low, Keeps dropping keys all night long For the Beautiful Rowdy Prisoners.

Out Of a great need We are all holding hands And climbing. Not loving is a letting go. Listen, The terrain around here Is Far too Dangerous For That.

I used to live in A cramped house with confusion And pain. But then I met the Friend And started getting drunk And singing all Night. Confusion and Pain Started acting nasty, Making threats, With talk like this, "If you don't stop 'that' - All that fun - We're Leaving."

First The fish needs to say, "Something ain't right about this Camel ride - And I'm Feeling so damn Thirsty."