These pulpiteers who like to preach
with public piety
Indulge in very different things
at home in privacy.
My problem is a question. Ask
the wisest: how do these
Enforcers of repentance live
so unrepentantly?
Who can believe in their belief
in God, or Judgment day
When all their judgments in His name
are fraud and jugglery?
I serve the master of the ruins
whose poor have all they need
To teach the needy rich a lesson
in humility.
These nouveaux-riches all flaunt their mules
and Turkish slaves! O Lord
Get these jackasses saddled up
and get them gone from me!
O Angels, say your prayers before
love's wineshop door, for there
Was Adam's clay shaped for the ferment
of humanity.
No sooner does a lover fall
slain by his boundless beauty,
Than slews of others born by love
rise from eternity.
Rise, Sufis, for the Magian
wine-temple and receive
The quenching spirit that revives
the heart to revelry.
Empty your house, my heart, and make
space for your Sultan's court
Since ravening fools make heart and soul
an army post in me.
At dawn a cry came from the throne
of heaven, and Reason said
"The angels must be chanting Hafiz'
Verse from memory."