The Violin

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by Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi (Hafiz)

When
The violin
Can forgive the past
It starts singing

When the violin can stop worrying
About the future
You will become
such a drunk laughing nuisance
That God
Will lean down
And begin combing you into her hair

When the violin can forgive
Every wound caused by
Others,
The heart starts singing


Daniel Ladinsky, translator
Thanks to Morgan Zo-Callahan who found this poem after the murder of five Amish girls.

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