Why think thus O men of piety
I have returned to sobriety
I am neither a Moslem nor a Hindu
I am not Christian, Zoroastrian, nor Jew

I am neither of the West nor the East
Not of the ocean, nor an earthly beast
I am neither a natural wonder
Nor from the stars yonder

Neither flesh of dust, nor wind inspire
Nor water in veins, nor made of fire
I am neither an earthly carpet, nor gems terrestrial
Nor am I confined to Creation, nor the Throne Celestial

Not of ancient promises, nor of future prophecy
Not of hellish anguish, nor of paradisic ecstasy
Neither the progeny of Adam, nor Eve
Nor of the world of heavenly make-believe

My place is the no-place
My image is without face
Neither of body nor the soul
I am of the Divine Whole.

I eliminated duality with joyous laughter
Saw the unity of here and the hereafter
Unity is what I sing, unity is what I speak
Unity is what I know, unity is what I seek

Intoxicated from the chalice of Love
I have lost both worlds below and above
Sole destiny that comes to me
Licentious mendicity

In my whole life, even if once
Forgot His name even per chance
For that hour spent, for such moment
I’d give my life, and thus repent

Beloved Master, Shams-e Tabrizi
In this world with Love I’m so drunk
The path of Love isn’t easy
I am shipwrecked and must be sunk.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari

Vancouver, Canada

March 25, 1998

Multi-layered existence I know not, I know not
The magical artist of time I know not, I know not
Hardship, struggle, confusion, I am taught, I am taught
Congenial moodiness I know not, I know not

My soul is after joy
Entertainers will employ
This joy seeking existence I know not, I know not
This lion in me instills fear
The world is a herd of deer
This lion and herd of deer I know not, I know not

I hear the warning of a friend, "your foes conspire and plot"
Conspiracy, friend and foe I know not, I know not
Earth is wife, sky man, being their child is my lot
This man and wife and this child I know not, I know not

This hidden face, gorgeous lashes
The arched brow, eye that flashes
The moving brow and talking eye I know not, I know not
Powerful arm, the nimble bow,
Put in flight temporal arrow
Bow and arrow and arm and time I know not, I know not

Shams-e Tabrizi, to you I’m brought
With your hardness I am distraught
That shining gem, this hard rock, I know not, I know not.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari

Vancouver, Canada

March 30, 1998

We today from strangers cannot divide
So drunk that we don’t know where we reside.
In this love, we departed our very mind
Madness and desperation we cannot hide.
In this trap they said there is a hidden bait
So trapped, we are the bait they implied.
Spare us the moral of this story
Stories and fantasies our hearts deride.
Your brush combed the fibers of my heart,
Ecstatic, brush from the hair cannot divide.
Flame of love unseen by the blind at heart
To the flame, the moth must glide with much pride.
Give us wine and ask us not how many cups
In this love cup and wine are both denied.
On the path bears and lions, vicious cougars,
Courage our guide, on the path forward we ride.
Shams-e Tabriz this flowing wine supplied
Once again cup and keg ain’t identified.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
June 18, 1999

Go to sleep
Leave me alone
At nights I leap
Up, on my own.
With waves of desire
Day and night, all alone
Compassion inspire
Else vengeful fits are thrown.
From me run away
Afflictions I’ve sown
For wholeness must pray
Else hardships are grown.
With my tearful eyes
And melancholic groan
Well of tears shall rise
Waterwheels have known.
My beauty, my fill,
Has a heart of stone
Heartlessly will kill
Yet remain on her throne.
My beloved and queen
Deserves not her throne
To her lover is mean
Patient, kindly, my tone.
Death and another pain
Incurable, we are prone;
I, speechless remain
Afflicted in this zone.
The dragon on the path
Keeps treasures on loan;
Defied the dragon’s wrath
When love’s treasures shone.
Leave me alone in my state
Spare me this debate
You speak of skull and bone
And punish the lover’s moan.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
June 18, 1999

My beloved came to my side
Revived the place where I reside
I said tonight you are my fellow
My temptress, my joy implied.
Said, work of some import, dear
I have now identified.
I swear to God, if you depart
I will not last, with you denied.
At least for a night, show some mercy
For the misery I cannot hide;
Bestow your eyes’ mercy upon
The tearful waves my eyes have cried.
Said, fate has shed many man’s blood
I am powerless, though I’ve tried.
Like Mars, there is naught but blood
Even the stars to me confide.
No incense will reach the Gods
Till its aroma spreads wide;
Since you demand no less than life
Eating blood, I will abide.
You are the shrub, and I, your shade
I, sacrifice, and you my bride.
Said, sacrifice worthy of mine
Is a rarity, not all who died;
Only the likes of Isaac can
Towards my gate in death glide.
I am Love and demand your blood
Resurrect your soul when I decide
Angel of death do not oppose
I’ll be glad to have you beside.
Hark, your heartbeat stops in my hand
Hark, my dagger will not be defied.
Having said this, as the morning breeze
Like flowing waters depart and divide.
You are my Isaac, I your father
I’ll be by your side, with care and pride.
I said, favor me O Master
Go slowly, by my side ride;
Said, behold this world in my sight
Limping along with one leg tied.
Say no more now, till another time
Or I’ll fall for love so magnified.
Be still, and be extinguished
Else your fire spreads untried.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
August 5, 1998

O friend of mine, O friend of mine,
O heedless lovely dread of mine
Compassionate unwed of mine
Thy grace, worrisome head of mine.

Most welcome is this soul of mine
My cure, filling this hole of mine
O faith and control of mine
Thou rich ocean bed of mine.

Caring companion of mine
Happy dominion of mine
A thousand opinion of mine
Union of this spread of mine.

To night-travelers, the light
And to the disturbed, delight
Where caravans stay the night
Caravan guide and head of mine.

Thou leader and opposition
Moon and Jupiter’s position
Thou reality and vision
Thou precious bread of mine.

O thou soul spring of mine
O king of mine, O king of mine
O endless pearl string of mine
Higher than lofty head of mine.

Thy ground is this sky of mine
Thy poison, drug and high of mine
This heartfelt sigh and cry of mine
Joy of secrets, unread of mine.

I was asked to give account
Of such worthless small amount
Seek not deception, be blunt
"My subject", this Thou said of mine.

Your head for treasures makes design
For love put your life on the line
Align yourself with the divine
O brutal beastly friend of mine.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
October 15, 1998

O Love, you brought forth a jug
Filled with the ache that my heart clog
I won’t drink this wine, this drug!
Drink but for my heart’s sake!

From this wine poured me a cup
Wisely his praises I brought up
Bittersweet, pleasing to sup
Like the praises my heart would make.

From the Wheel of Fortune and fate
Stepped forth a Soul so great
I ran forth to demonstrate
The rewards my heart had at stake.

O Divine Secret, of Thee I ask
Yourself for crowds do not unmask.
Praised and thanked me for my task
For my heart’s sake, thus He spake.

I was pleased that my Beloved’s face
Towards my home its path would trace
And opened up with much grace
The veil covering my heart break.

If Love for blood may thirst
Brave warriors are curst
Mountains spontaneously burst
In such place my heart quake.

O Thou the bringer of cure
Pleasure and pain you endure
Only in you I am secure
Thou can cure my heartache.

Every fruit if only tries
My heart’s ache can realize
Melancholic face, bloodshot eyes
Streams form heart’s bloody lake.

King of the World put away tears
The Pride of Tabriz appears
Light of Truth, Shams, now nears
Thy light my heart will wake and take.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 14, 1998

Lovers alas, lovers alas
Whoever sees that faceless face
Confusion in him amass
Desperation will embrace.

For beloved cross every pass
Worldly affairs slow their pace
A flowing brook amidst the grass
Flowing tears his face shall trace

His ego is shattered glass
Self-estranged, himself deface
Sense the Divine in spirit and mass
If he is truly seeking grace

Love can withstand molten brass
Gives his own soul in this chase
Through this trap lovingly pass
And find himself beside that face

With love himself will embarrass
Lost in time and in space
There’s no cure, potion, herb or grass
For one who’s lost his earthly base

And his prize, to reach that class
In this futile endless race
Until death too will come to pass
And move him to that place.

The love that hurts will never pass
It is a very special case
Transcendent love has its own class
The aching heart is wrapped in lace

Run out of sand many hourglass
Many a dream lost in space
If miracle shall come to pass
Every magic shall displace

There is no king and no palace
Facing that graceful faceless face
Brave lions cry out alas
Beside the dogs guarding that place.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari

Vancouver, Canada

April 2, 1998

The heart that you’ve lost, seek from your soul
Your life’s serenity seek from your soul
Abdicate body’s throne, and put on your soul’s crown
Traverse the skies, Saturn of your soul extol
Sugar’s incomplete, it only tastes sweet
When between your teeth, on your tongue roll
Prophetic message divine, people are golden mine
Seeking your golden vein, should become your goal
You who are still, for journey have no will
Take that first step, pay your highway toll
Thou who art divine, are without a sign
Forgive my decline, with mercy control
With lightning spears, set my heart in fears
My flowing tears shall fill my life’s bowl
Purpose of both worlds, while your life unfolds
Friend nor stranger holds, your soul knows your role
Shams-e Tabrizi who art complete and whole
With thy graceful word enthrall my soul.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
April 2, 1998

O blaze of the world you are dear, you are dear
O beholding the beloved, keep near, keep near

I am the creation, I am the house
I am the trap and the mouse
I am wise and mad, stay here, stay here

I am the secrets you can’t see
Cloak and turban are both me
I am the cloister and the monk, do appear, do appear

I am mortal, I am old
Chains and shackles my feet hold
I make plans, don’t disappear, don’t disappear

I am the noon, I am the eve
Fire of love with my heart receive
I am the candle giving light, stay clear, stay clear

I am the prayer and the angel in flight
I am the fire, I am the light
I am the Promised Land, so dear, so dear

I am here, I am to be
Alpha and Omega are in me
I am aware of the others, keep near, keep near

I am the acquaintance and the friend
The lover and beloved in the end
I am the flower and the thorn, don’t fear, don’t fear

I am the season and temporal train
I am the minor, I am the main
I am the mind and the story, be here, be here.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
March 27, 1998

Let go of deceptions O heart
Madness embrace, madness embrace
Moth-like, go to the heart of the hearth
Fire face, fire face

Make yourself a stranger
Turn your home to a manger
With the lovers of this danger
Cohabitate in one place, in one place

Open your heart like a tray
Vengeance wash away and pray
The wine of love, when down you lay
Your cup grace, your cup grace

You must become wholly a soul
To be worthy of the Divine Whole
If with the drunk you play your role
Drinking chase, drinking chase

The bead from the ear-ring
With cheek will speak and sing
If cheek and ear you seek and cling
Mother-of-pearl make your space

When your soul flies easy
From this, our sweet fantasy
Like lovers in mortal ecstasy
Your story trace, your story trace

Go from this night of the grave
And the Divine Night brave
And like Divine, spirit crave
Make that your base, make that your base

Your mind will first imagine
Then will draw you therein
Trade mind and fate in your within
Onward race, onward race

A lock with an invisible bar
Enchains our hearts, keeps us afar
Become the key, the key you are
Like saw teeth brace, brace!

Lovers their wine draw
From cup of skull with bone straw
In such a feast obey the law
Yourself efface, yourself efface.

To call this "accident" or "chance"
Puts your essence out of balance
In your earthly reign & kingly dance
Choose staff or mace, staff or mace!

Christ graced the wooden cross
Cross’s gain was our loss
Such compassion cannot emboss
On wooden vase, on wooden vase.

Solomon spoke of right & wrong
In the birds’ language & tongue
Soul’s bird to body’s trap don’t belong
Bird is your ace, bird is your ace.

If graced with Beloved’s affection
Like a mirror become reflection
If ***** made such selection
Wrap in lace, wrap in lace.

How long crisscross like the rook?
Or like a pawn easily forsook?
Like a queen, obliquely look?
Straighten pace, straighten pace.

To love you gave with much pleasure
Every earthly weal and treasure
Forget treasure, yourself measure
For love’s case, for love’s case.

For sometime were mineral
Some other time were animal
Then human-like, erect & tall
Soul don’t debase, soul don’t debase.

O tongue may you become still
Not with speech egos fulfill
Spirit leaves tongue null and nil
No more disgrace, and nor deface.

O Shams-e Tabrizi come near
In my soul your place is dear
O King, my soul to joy steer
With regal grace, with regal grace!
Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
July 21 & October 21, 1998

Version II

I am enslaved to fate
Other than fate say not a thing
Honey is sweet, tastes great
Other than great say not a thing
Of pain speak nothing
If joy not bring, say not a thing
If for you this has no ring
Joyously sing, say not a thing
I had once gone insane
Love whispered when saw my pain,
"I’ve come and will remain
Madness refrain, say not a thing."
I said "O Love, I fear
The things other than Thee here"
Said "though may thus appear
To me is clear, say not a thing
"I’ll whisper in your ear
Secrets to you bring near
Nod your head and hold dear
Silently hear, say not a thing"
"The face I see so well
Angel or man? Pray do tell"
Said "this is other than angel
Nor with man dwell, say not a thing"
"Pray tell, what do I see
Else all my senses will flee"
"From senses remain free
And just be, say not a thing
"You reside in this abode
Where color & falsehood explode;
Rise up, take up the road
Pick up your load, say not a thing
"Other than Shams-e Tabriz
If ever Mevlana please,
Blow away with morning breeze
His Light seize, say not a thing!"

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 23, 1998

Why think this ethereal thing is the soul
And a nugget of gold a treasured goal?
In search of gold, digging deep, why?
Thinking the earth to be the sky
Why consider ghastly temptations
To be the beauty of the nations?
Why like a worm crawl with earthly lust
And consider lovers lower than dust?
Why drive love out with disgust
Think are in love, while immersed in lust?
Why let the smoke of ignorance fill the eyes with tears?
Why consider godliness the result of ignorant fears?
Submission to lust signifies a curse
Then why insist this sign will disperse?
All that I question, why, I asked of me
Like others you thought I asked of Thee?
Shams-e Tabrizi, show thyself, thy light
Thou who considers eyes have no sight!
Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
March 27, 1998

O God, give the players sweetness and weal
And for the tabbla, give them hands of steel.
For their love, they sacrifice every limb
Of limbs O God, please give them a great deal.
These messengers of love filled our ears
Grant them seeing eyes and thy Royal Seal.
These lovebirds sing and cry out their love
Grace them with the patience that would heal.
In thy praise, they have filled many ears
You too praise their praise and their zeal.
They quenched the thirst of heart’s flower
Let the full moon in their skies reel and wheel.
I am silent, please speak to me thy will
For they say you give thus, and thus steal.
O God, all I ask for in both worlds
Like Shams, let me shine, be and feel.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Los Angeles, CA
May 24, 1999

My beloved I once saw
Around the room pace & dance
Plucking the strings in awe
Singing in a state of trance

Fingers fiery flame
Playing a song of old fame
Joyous, drunken, and tame
The night spirits enhance

Stylishly would amuse
Singing was the excuse
Wine was the main news
As the wine-bearers advance

A bearer of much beauty
The jug was her duty
From a corner mutely
Made her grand entrance

She filled up the first glass
A drink of molten brass;
Has it ever come to pass
Water on fire, per chance?

Put the glass in the hand
Of the Lovers, on demand
Prostrate, and then stand
Kiss the ground with her glance

He withdrew his gaze
Sipped from the wine in daze
The flaming wine would raze
His flaming head’s resistance

Of his own grace was fed
About good and evil said
Neither lives, nor is dead
Unlike myself, for instance

Shams upon the world hovers
The Lover of all Lovers
In each instant discovers
Soul and Spirit in romance.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 22, 1998

I am drunk and you are mad
Who’ll take us home and make us glad?
Said a hundred times, if you had
Two or three cups less, won’t be bad.

In this town I do complain
Every person seems insane
In this place madness like rain
Washes wisdom down the drain.

In the tavern of my soul
Carpet of joy will unroll
My soul is out of control
When trapped in a soulless hole

Gypsy minstrel who must play
More drunk than me as I lay
Beside such drunk, I dare say
Mild is the story of my day.

I left my home in that state
My drunken ways could not wait
Every place I looked, looked great
Saw my beloved, my soul mate.

I asked "where is thy land?"
With laughter and a cold hand
"Half from the Arabian sand
And half a heavenly strand.

"Half made of water and clay
Half soul and half solar ray
Half on the shallow beaches lay
Half from the oyster’s pearly play."

I asked Thee to be my friend
And change this dividing trend
Replied that "I transcend,
All divisions in me end."

I am without head or hand
I am of this drunken band
All things I understand
Describe or silently stand.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari

Vancouver, Canada

April 13, 1998

To this world you have brought the fragrance
Yet perfume you have hidden from appearance
A million excitements this aroma belies
That you have thrown upon the earth and the skies.
From thy own radiant light and heat
You have set fire to the mind and soul’s seat
From taking thy life-giving jewel
The mine and the ocean have lost their cool.
Millions of souls with radiant faces
Have been confined to dark spaces.
You take the certainty of fools
And give them doubt with mental tools.
They ply themselves with their own hand
And with sweetness take a bloody stand.
The heartful find their hearts broken
The heartless with cries of alas are woken.
Shams-e Tabrizi from thy kindness
To lovers have given this madness.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari

Vancouver, Canada

July 12, 1998

O heart, when the secrets themselves unveiled
No more exerted yourself, nor travailed
In your imagination and madness remain
Why senses regain, why your mind hailed?
Like Romeo in senseless chaos
All orders before you failed.
Ingesting spirits if you refrain
Why in the market drunken wailed?
Idleness and sitting brings you no gain
If with the seafarers forward you sailed.
Go to the desert and try to cross
You’ve seen what these ruins entailed.
Your neighbors of wine reek and stain
Drunken fragrance of wine staled.
Follow this aroma to the tavern lane
Light as the wind, the lanes brailled
Go to Shams-e Tabriz’s abode of loss
Idle, unemployed, round the world trailed.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 22, 1998

Alas that now from our midst you are gone
In spite of the pain you resist, you are gone
Once the circle of friends you blissed
Now with the dust of ants and snakes blissed, you are gone.
What of all the knowledge you endlessly list
What of such mind, in the secret list you are gone.
What of the helping hand the once would assist
What of the feet that gardens assist, you are gone.
Gentle and kind, people you charmed and wist
Then earth’s dust your dust wist, you are gone.
Your sweet replies no more persist
No more tongue that can persist, you are gone.
Jealously repented, strove to desist
Pilgrim of death, from living itself desist, you are gone.
Whither to, can’t see your dust nor your mist
This bloody path, disappearing mist, you are gone.
Silent O heart, tongue shackles your soul’s wrist
What use the flames that turn and twist, you are gone.

Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
September 21, 1998

Thou art my King, Thou art my King
To my heart and soul faith Thou shalt bring
With Thy loving breath infuse me with life
Not just one single soul, my every soul Thou string.
Without Thee taking bread, is of poison being fed
Thou art water and bread to which with life I cling.
Poison if Thou willed, into elixir will turn
Thy abundant sweetness in my mouth sweetly sting.
My grass and orchard, and my Paradise
My herb and my tree, thy joy in me ring.
Thou art my monarch, Thou art my moon too;
Thou art the jewel and the mine that gave it wing.
Silence I choose, best Thou givest the news
Thou art the reason for which I speak and sing.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
July 20, 1998

O heart let go of your soul
Until you see the soul maker
Leave behind this deceptive faker
So you reach your real goal.

Unless you pass through here
You will never reach the beyond
Free yourself from worldly bond
Doubtless clear, to you appear.

If it is a sign that you seek
In this path, my dear friend
Yourself you must transcend
And signs to you will speak.

Go past the four and five
From six and seven look away
Rise above this earth and clay
Seven skies become alive.

When you’ve seen the seventh sky
Go to the eighth sphere
Step upon the things that appear
You’ll find the void nearby.

Within the void you shall see
The souls of dear friends
Disembodied floating heads
In the spaceless roaming free.

Close the critical eye
Appeal to the inner sight
From yourself briefly take flight
The beloved will appear nigh.

You who have never taken a pace
On the path of misfortune
To soul’s treasure won’t attune
Unless this costly pain embrace.

O hear ye, Shams-e Tabriz
Silently speak the word
With your soul be in accord
Which you’ll see joyously frees.
Ó Shahriar Shahriari
Vancouver, Canada
July 20, 1998

Thanks My Dear:53::53::53::53: