Punishment

If God were to punish us for our each and every sin,
The world would be taken up by weeping and wailing.

In His eyes, the blade of grass and the mountain are the same;
Sometimes He punishes the mountain and sometimes His wrath falls on
The blade of grass.

Because of our greed, the Earth is covered in blacktop
And the sun eclipsed by the dark of the moon.

Even with a clean shirt, your selfish deeds are not hidde
From He who sees the dirt on your skin.

O Master, forgive me! I promise I will spend each night weeping,
In order that green grass beneath this blacktop can grow again.

And if You leave me. I’ll cry such a flood of tears
That no matter where You go, it will rain.

O Hafiz, when the Creator comes for us with death in His eyes,
Who could stand before Him face-to-face and lie?

From: Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved

Translations by Thomas Rain Crowe

Published by Shambhala