We Haven’t Travelled to This Door

We haven’t travelled to this door

    For wealth or mastery,

We come here seeking refuge from

    Misfortune’s misery.

And we have journeyed all this way,

    Fleeing the confines of

Our nothingness to seek out Being

    Along the path of love;

From heaven’s orchards we have seen

    The springtime of your face,

We travelled here from paradise

    To seek this herb of grace –

For all the treasures Gabriel

    Kept in store for us there,

We’ve traveled to our Sovereign’s door

    Like beggars in despair.

O Holy Ship of Blessings, where

    Is Your strong anchor found?

In sinfulness, within this sea

    Of mercy, we are drowned!

Our good name’s gone … cover our sins,

    King Cloud of Grace – we bring

A blackened record with us to

    The precincts of our King.

Hafez, cast off this Sufi cloak

    And all it signifies –

We’ve followed here the camel-train

    With ardent, fiery sighs.