Do Not Sink Into Sadness

In the light of the Haiti Earthquake, I looked for a poem that spoke to the feelings many of us are experiencing around the devastation and suffering, and chose this one by Hafiz. However we respond to this tragedy, the most important thing is to respond from an open heart.

Do Not Sink Into Sadness

Joseph the lost will return – Jacob should not sink into sadness; those who sit in the grief house will eventually sit in the garden.

The grieving chest will find honey; do not let the heart close.

The hysterical mind will find peace – do not sink into sadness.

If the way the earth revolves confounds your desires for two days, do not sink into sadness: all turning goes as it will.

I say to the bird: “As long as spring baptizes the grass, the scarlet blossoms will continue to sway over your head.”

Even if the flood…drowns everything, do not sink into sadness, because Noah is your captain.

Do not sink into sadness, even though the mysteries of the other world slip past you entirely. There are plays within plays that we cannot see…

–Hafiz