30 May 22 Guest Poet: Hafez #2

Wider Perspectives from Hafez

Though Hafez is well known for his poetry, he is less commonly recognized for his intellectual and political contributions. A defining feature of Hafez' poetry is its ironic tone and the theme of hypocrisy, widely believed to be a critique of the religious and ruling establishments of the time.  Persian satire developed during the 14th century, within the courts of the Mongol Empire. In this period, Hafez and other notable early satirists, produced a body of work that has since become a template for the use of satire as a political device. Many of his critiques thought to be aimed at the disintegration of important public and private institutions. 

His work, particularly his imaginative references to monasteries, convents, and other cultural organizations. Hafez’s tendency was to ignore the period’s prevailing religious taboos. He countered his societal critiques with a good dose of humor as a way of commenting on the time’s religious dogmas. Employing humor has become a common practice in Iranian public dialogue.

Cupbearer, it is morning, fill my cup with wine

Cupbearer, it is morning, fill my cup with wine.

Make haste, the heavenly sphere knows no delay.

Before this transient world is ruined and destroyed,

ruin me with a beaker of rose-tinted wine.

The sun of the wine dawns in the east of the goblet.

Pursue life's pleasure, abandon dreams,

and the day when the wheel makes pitchers of my clay,

take care to fill my skull with wine!

We are not men for piety, penance and preaching

but rather give us a sermon in praise of a cup of clear wine.

Wine-worship is a noble task, O Hafiz;

rise and advance firmly to your noble task. 

from Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved: 100 Poems of Hafiz, by Thomas Rain Crowe 

The Pearl on the Ocean Floor 

We have turned the face of our dawn studies toward the drunkard's road.

The harvest of our prayers we've turned toward the granary of the ecstatic soul.

The fire toward which we have turned our face is so intense

It would set fire to the straw harvest of a hundred reasonable men.

The Sultan of Pre-Eternity gave us the casket of love's grief as a gift;

Therefore we have turned our sorrow toward this dilapidated traveler’s cabin that we call "the world."

From now on I will leave no doors in my heart open for love of beautiful creatures;

I have turned and set the seal of divine lips on the door of this house.

It's time to turn away from make-believe under our robes patched so many times.

The foundation for our work is an intelligence that sees through all these games.

We have turned our face to the pearl lying on the ocean floor.

So why then should we worry if this wobbly old boat keeps going or not?

We turn to the intellectuals and call them parasites of reason;

Thank God they are like true lovers faithless and without heart.

The Sufis have settled for a fantasy, and Hafez is no different.

How far out of reach our goals, and how weak our wills are!

from The Soul is Here for its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures, Edited by Robert Bly 

Hair disheveled, smiling lips, sweating and tipsy

Hair disheveled, smiling lips, sweating and tipsy,

garment torn, singing a love song, glass in hand,

picking a quarrel, chanting a spell,

yesterday at midnight she came and sat by my bed.

She lowered her head to my ear, and whispered, sad-voiced,

"My old lover, are you asleep?"

The lover for whom such a nightfarer's drink is poured

is an unbeliever of love if he does not worship wine.

Come on, hermit, do not blame those who drink to the dregs,

there was no other gift when God announced His Mastery.

The smile of the wineglass, a girl's tangled tresses,

have broken may penances, as they broke the penance of Hafiz.

from Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved: 100 Poems of Hafiz, by Thomas Rain Crowe

Background

Though his work flourished most under the 27-year rule of Shah Jalal ud-Din Shah Shuja, apparently Hāfez was censored by this Shah for mocking inferior poets. Hafez had gone too far in his negative critique. The Shah was fond of writing poetry himself, and probably took serious offense on a very personal level. The Shah’s displeasure was intense enough that Hafez had to leave the court in Shiraz and change residence to Isfahan and Yazda. This story may be fabricated by Hafez’s enemies. He did, after all, offend many more people than the Shah.  

Hafez’s poetry is complex, no doubt. This and other factors make it problematic as to how to interpret his work. Is it literal? Is mysticism a focal component of the poetry’s meaning? One critic believed Hafaz was only a moderately talented writer of lyrical poems without substantial meaning. Hafez has also been compared to Rumi due their mystical commonality. Ralph Waldo Emerson, closer to contemporary times, was critical of the preponderance of alcohol in Hafez’s poetry.  

Exploration 1: Can you find any biting satire in “Pearl”? If so, what aspect of society/culture does he take aim at? Can it be applied to current times.

Exploration 2: From the small sample of Hafez’s poetry in this post and last week’s posting, do you find any spiritual aspects that you can identify with?

Exploration 3: If you didn’t know the time period in which Hafez wrote, could you find any modern themes in his work?