The poetry of Persian poet Hafiz, who lived in the 14th century, is not only gorgeous but also insightful. According to Daniel Ladinsky, Hafiz may teach us how to make the most of our life.

Shams-ud-din One of the most well-known Persian poets, Muhammad Hafiz (c. 1320–1389), is regarded by many people from various cultures as one of the seven literary wonders of the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Ralph Waldo Emerson both concurred. “Hafiz has no anxieties”, as Emerson said, “the only man I want to see or be is one who sees too far and all at once”. Hafiz received the prestigious and well-known accolade from Emerson that “Hafiz is a poet for poets.”

Emerson and Goethe both translated Hafiz. And after a thorough examination of him, Geothe simply - yet surprisingly - said, “Hafiz has no peer.”

Nietzsche and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose marvelous character Sherlock Holmes quotes Hafiz, were among the notables who liked Hafiz's poetry. The Sufi poet was commended by Garcia Lorca. His verse moved Johannes Brahms so much that he incorporated some of them into his works. In addition, it is reported that Queen Victoria once turned to Hafiz for advice, as has long been the practice in the Middle East. In the Fal-e Hafiz, an age-old custom, readers open Hafiz's writings with a sincere desire from their soul for guidance and seek him for assistance when they are confronting a challenge or at a pivotal moment in their lives.

Hafiz's versatility is really astounding and occasionally provocative:

I am a hole in a flute that the Christ's breath

moves through – listen to this music.

Next, this passage from another poetry:

Look at the smile on the Earth's lips this

morning, she laid again with me last night!

Hafiz is a unique master of "the utility of light" or "the sun." 'The utility of art' is another. His poetry bestows its goodness and capacity to reassure, animate, and excite those who are in need. If you're feeling cold in any way, art should be your lover; it should warm you from the inside out. Inner hunger and thirst can be satisfied through art. And after studying the poetry and lives of Rumi, Michelangelo, St. Francis, Kabir, Mira, and Hafiz, as well as many other famous poet-seers from both the East and the West, we came to understand that their work has a marvelous element in common.

They assisted us in developing a three-word description of art, which we later believed provided a reliable yardstick for the quality of any poems or writing we ever engaged in. In the same way that Emerson used Hafiz as a true barometer of himself in all of his contacts, we also make an effort to keep Hafiz in mind whenever we connect with another person, animal, or even plant. We strive to pour myself through the poetry of Hafiz and my pictures of him in the same way that water is put through a cloth to catch impurities.

In the moment

An important definition and objective of art, as well as a standard we hold myself to, are these three words, which Hafiz represents, and which we discovered through studying the lives and works of those greats we just mentioned: engage and offer.

The ability to grab and profit from another person's attention is arguably one of the most important qualities and values of art. Because when beauty achieves so, the observer, or audience, always reaps the rewards. As Hafiz puts it:

The mountain's face lifted me higher than

itself.

A song's wink aligned me with joy. And a

tune paradise hums I came to know.

The forest, letting me walk amongst its naked

limbs, had me on my knees again in silence

shouting – yes, yes my holy friend, let your

splendour devour me.

Being engaged by a genuine instructor like Hafiz is like having enduring ingredients cooked into your mind through thought, helping us live better lives. Making someone present is essential to capturing their attention. What a joy being in the now may be, especially if a jewel can be slipped into your pocket by some magician's brush stroke, writing, sculpture, instrument, or ballet step. After all, so many people live under the tyranny of some previous occurrence or worry about the future. In some of his poems, Hafiz clearly addresses the topic of how to claim the treasure that was predetermined to be ours at birth.

The "wine-tasting of the sky"

The motivation behind each and every line of Hafiz’s poems is to encourage you to light a candle in your heart, to support our enduring need to laugh, dance, and have fun, or, as the poet put it, "to lift the corners of your mouth." Hafiz is there to ease the burden that may be on us in an hour or a day. His love for us has stood the test of time and continues to uplift and inspire. He makes it easier for us to pardon those we haven't yet. And honor those who have not yet received it. And his superhuman fortitude and enlightenment will rub off on you so that you too will want to—and find that you can—never hurt anyone by sound or movement. It is claimed that Hafiz lost the ability to do anything cruel.

Hafiz addresses the issues that prevent us from leading more fulfilling lives in countless different ways. He longs to assist the highest elements of us in leading all the other aspects to a place where we can breathe better, kick back more, and say: "Ahhhh, this world isn't so bad, in fact, it is amazing!" with the use of special, endearing metaphors that he appears to be able to rain from the ground up.

Hafiz mentions:

If your knees have not buckled in ecstasy while standing

when a veil parts.

If a cherished tear of gratitude has not sung leaping from

your eye.

If anything your palm does touch cannot help reveal the

Beloved.

My words are full of golden secrets that are not too hard

to crack, and will remedy one hundred fears and ills.

So many of Hafiz's poems speak directly to the need to free the senses from restraint and to strengthen the will in order to better engage in "wine-tasting of the sky" and more gently hold — in thought or with our arms — the things we most cherish and know to be priceless nutrition. Our "emerald wings" are released by him.

Master's stories

Two tales about Hafiz demonstrate his wide variety and his remarkable capacity to never become monotonous. To always be giving and involved. Lead creatively in this way.

As for the first tale:

Once a young woman came to Hafiz and said,

"What is the sign of someone knowing God?"

And Hafiz became very quiet, and stood in silence

for nearly a minute... lovingly looking deep into the

young woman's eye, then softly spoke,

"My dear, they have dropped the knife. The person

who knows God has dropped the cruel knife most

so often use upon their tender self – and others."

The second narrative reflects a sensuality that Hafiz fully embraces and frequently employs as a stepping stone to heaven—as the body and its passions might be—and that is so fundamental to human dynamics. You say:

A rather serious – maybe too serious – university

student from another country came to Hafiz to

personally ask for his permission to translate some

of Hafiz's poems into a little book.

And he said to Hafiz, "What is the essential

quality in your poems that I need to incorporate in

my translations to make them abiding and authentic?"

And Hafiz smiled, and placed his arms on the man's

shoulders, then said, "Do you really want to know?"

And the young man said, "Of course."

"Well, well then," Hafiz began and continued,

"My poems lift the corners of the mouth – the soul's

mouth, the heart's mouth. And can effect any opening

that can make love."

The artist can occasionally share in that, as can any human being who is full of buoyant passion or is willing to die for some lofty cause or magnificent goals, just as the sun and earth provide wondrous life in their miraculous utility.

The intellect that respects everything and understands that all forms are a part of an ultimate Self can do the same. And from Hafiz's tremendous insight and compassion, a holy hand extends. He may be omnipresent in spirit, but he is there with a soft embrace. His poems' mosaic of illuminated consciousness help us become more self-aware, empowered, and free. He is a gold mine with his crazed assault of playful creativity. And those who adore his works can start a lovely romance.