Forget every idea of right and wrong
Any classroom ever taught you
Because an empty heart, a tormented mind, unkindness, jealousy and fear are always the testimony that you have been completely fooled.
Turn your back on those who would imprison your wondrous spirit
with deceit and lies
Come join the honest company of the king’s beggars, those gamblers, scoundrels and divine clowns and those astonishing fair courtesans who need divine love every night
Come join the courageous who have no choice but to bet their entire world that indeed God is real
Let me lead you into the circle of the beloved’s cunning thieves, those playful royal rouges, the ones you can trust for true guidance who can aid you in this blessed calamity of life.
Shams al-Din Hafiz
