Thursday, November 05, 2009
Poem by Hafiz
We Have Not Come To Take Prisoners
We have not come here to take prisoners,
But to surrender ever more deeply
To freedom and joy.
We have not come into this exquisite world
To hold ourselves hostage from love.
Run my dear,
From anything
That may not strengthen
Your precious budding wings.
Run like hell my dear,
From anyone likely
To put a sharp knife
Into the sacred, tender vision
Of your beautiful heart.
We have a duty to befriend
Those aspects of obedience
That stand outside of our house
And shout to our reason
"O please, O please,
Come out and play."
For we have not come here to take prisoners
Or to confine our wondrous spirits,
But to experience ever and ever more deeply
Our divine courage, freedom and
Light.
Hafiz
(Hafiz was a Sufi poet who lived in Persia from 1320-1389. No image of him is available, but the above is a shrine dedicated to him (source unknown). Much beloved today throughout the world, early Western admirers included Emerson and Goethe.)
