Hafez, the great mystic
He has been called: The Tongue of the Invisible, A poet for poets, and A poet without peer. His name is Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafez (1320-1389) and he occupies a place of deepest respect within the Sufi tradition. His lyrical poetry is able to grab you deep in the heart. It can shake you from the slumber of your daily routine and beckon you to come to a landscape within your mind, where truth runs free hand-in-hand with your imagination.
There is a story of Hafez's life that is worth telling. Hafez's father died when he was a teenager. Due to the financial difficulties this caused the family Hafez had to seek a job as a baker's assistant. When he was twenty-one Hafez was delivering bread to a noble family in Shiraz and happened to glimpse a girl of unparalleled beauty. Hafez was smitten, however he was not able to pursue her hand for she was already promised to another. His love bubbled over in poems and songs that he would sing out to her during his regular visits to deliver bread.
So desperate was Hafez to win her hand that he undertook a forty night vigil at the tomb of a famous saint, Babi Kuhi. It was believed that upon completion of such a vigil one would be granted his heart's desire. On the fortieth night the angel Gabriel appeared to Hafez and asked what it was that he desired. Taken aback by the beauty of the angel Hafez forgot his desire for the girl. He thought: "What must God's beauty be like-my soul needs to see that, I need to see God." He was instructed to visit a spiritual teacher, Muhammad Attar, from whom he learned many great spiritual truths under his tutelage.
May this be the desire of our hearts today. "I need to see God." Below I have included several Hafez poems, as translated by Daniel Ladinsky, that have the ability to remind me of my deepest longing.
There is a story of Hafez's life that is worth telling. Hafez's father died when he was a teenager. Due to the financial difficulties this caused the family Hafez had to seek a job as a baker's assistant. When he was twenty-one Hafez was delivering bread to a noble family in Shiraz and happened to glimpse a girl of unparalleled beauty. Hafez was smitten, however he was not able to pursue her hand for she was already promised to another. His love bubbled over in poems and songs that he would sing out to her during his regular visits to deliver bread.
So desperate was Hafez to win her hand that he undertook a forty night vigil at the tomb of a famous saint, Babi Kuhi. It was believed that upon completion of such a vigil one would be granted his heart's desire. On the fortieth night the angel Gabriel appeared to Hafez and asked what it was that he desired. Taken aback by the beauty of the angel Hafez forgot his desire for the girl. He thought: "What must God's beauty be like-my soul needs to see that, I need to see God." He was instructed to visit a spiritual teacher, Muhammad Attar, from whom he learned many great spiritual truths under his tutelage.
May this be the desire of our hearts today. "I need to see God." Below I have included several Hafez poems, as translated by Daniel Ladinsky, that have the ability to remind me of my deepest longing.
How Did the Rose?
How
did the rose
ever open its heart
and give to this world all of its beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light against its being,
otherwise we all remain too
frightened.
Only Pucker at Certain Moments?
Does God only pucker at certain moments
of one's life?
No way!
He is the wildest of us lovers.
The Sun Never Says
Even
after
all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
"You owe me."
Look
what happnes
with a love like that -
it lights the whole
world.
Two Giant Fat People
God
and I have become
like two giant fat people living
in a tiny
boat.
We
keep bumping into
each other
and
l
a
u
g
h
i
n
g
.
Wondrous
O wondrous creatures,
by what strange miracle do you
so often not
smile?
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