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If You Don't Love, You're Dismissed, a Poem by Hafez

posted August 2, 2010 - 1:53am by Editor
Subtitle: 
Hafez is to Iranians what Rumi is to the rest of the world

Hafez: the mystic poetHafez: the mystic poetThe poems of Hafez have a beautiful and musical quality, which also embody a great spontaneity. In a myriad of poetic ways, he expresses the spiritual experiences of a mystic, in love with his Beloved. Like other Sufi poets, Hafez weaves themes of ambiguity into his poems. Often he will use secular images such as wine, drunkenness and human love, however these are just symbols for the divine experiences which Hafez is alluding to. 

 

If You Don't Love, You're Dismissed

Hey, since you're always so proud of yourself,
If you don't love, you're dismissed.

Don't hang around those who live crazy with love
If you're only famous for upright wisdom.

The drunkenness of love doesn't exist in you;
Go away; you're only high on wine.

The pallid face and painful sigh
Are the lover's cure for this condition.

Leave behind fame and shame, Hafez;
Because you need drunkenness, ask for a wineglass.

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