Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Do you know how beautiful you are?

Saints Bowing in the Mountains

Do you know how beautiful you are?

I think not, my dear.

For as you talk of God,
I see great parades with wildly colorful bands
Streaming from your mind and heart,
Carrying wonderful and secret messages
To every corner of this world.

I see saints bowing in the mountains
Hundreds of miles away
To the wonder of sounds
That break into light
From your most common words.

Speak to me of your mother,
Your cousins and your friends.

Tell me of squirrels and birds you know.
Awaken your legion of nightingales—
Let them soar wild and free in the sky.

And begin to sing to God.
Let’s all begin to sing to God!

Do you know how beautiful you are?

I think not, my dear,

Yet Hafiz
Could set you upon a Stage
And worship you forever!

-Hafiz

-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

You might also enjoy

Monk in the World Guest Post: Mary Camille Thomas

I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to the Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Mary Camille Thomas’s reflection “Beholding God’s Sanctuary.” My Grandma Sammie knew many psalms by heart and could quote them chapter and verse.

Read More »

8 Responses

  1. My morning meditation today included these words (for the second time) but this time I felt the sensation of and envisioned sunlight warming my body. The same feeling I felt the last time I felt completely at peace.

  2. This is in a mediation I listen to. I just had to find a hard copy of it. It truly speaks to the heart. Thank you for sharing.

  3. I heard this poem for the first time today during a meditation with The Chopra Center…and was moved to tears as I drank in the beauty of the words. Thank you.

  4. Thanks for the comments friends, this is one of my favorite poems because it is so true and yet what I so quickly forget!

    Blessings to you all, Christine