The Joy of Hafez

The Power of Poetry to move us all

Poetry, like music, like art, can not only move us personally but also express the longing of a nation..

If I have a special place in my heart for the holy books the Quran, Bhagvad Gita, or Bible, it is because of the power of their poetry, and the poetry of Shakespeare, Lao-Tzu and Hafez also has a special place in my heart.

I remember with special fondness when a friend and I read the Diwan i Hafiz in the Persian by candlelight in Tehran during Nawrooz, the Persian New Year. It was a very difficult time for what I saw ahead, but also because the reading gave me a confirmation the path I choose would lead me to what I sought. Fal-e-Hafiz can be an oracle as well.

Nawrooz in Tehran 2007: A friend and i stayed up reading Fal-e-Hafiz http://www.hafizonlove.com/fal.htm

"Than eternal life, union is better

O God, give me that, which is better.

Cut me with a sword, and I said no word,

From foe keeping friend's secret is better.

In this path to die enslaved to the Lord

Than all the world, that Soul is better.

Ask healer of my painful discord

Will this invalid ever get better?

In shade of the spruce, the rose that was floored

Than ruby red blood, its dust is better.

O pious ones, with heavens I'm bored

Than paradise, this garden is better.

O heart, always, in His alley beg and hoard

He, who commands eternity is better.

O youth, with the advice of the old be in accord

Than youthful luck, old wisdom is better.

No eye has seen a gem that soared

That of the pearl of my ear is better.

Though from "Zendeh Rood" elixir of life poured

Than Isfahan, Our Shiraz is better.

Though friend's words sweetness stored

Than those words, Hafiz's is better"

© Shahriar Shahriari

I wish my friends peace.