"Where are the tidings of union? that I may arise,
Forth from the dust I will rise up to welcome thee!
My soul, like a homing bird, yearning for Paradise,
Shall arise and soar, from the snares of the world set free.
..
When to my grave thou turnest thy blessed feet,
Wine and the lute thou shalt bring in thine hand to me,
Thy voice shall ring through the folds of my winding-sheet,
And I will arise and dance to thy minstrlsy."
from 'The Garden of Heaven', translated by Gertrude Bell
written by Hafez of Shiraz
That is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHow neat that it should come from a place that gave its name to a style of wine!
And how tragic that the people who live there now can as yet know neither the pleasure of the wine, nor the consummation desired by that poem.
I'm glad you like the fragment. It's an interesting point you make about the wine, thought I'm sure they have their ways of getting hold of it! Also one can never tell what mystical experiences may be taking place for people in the deepest difficulties. Indeed, St John of the Cross wrote his mystical masterpiece whilst in a dungeon, courtesy of his fellow religious! Plus ca Change!
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