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City &
Highlight Sightseeing ::
Hafezieh ::
Shiraz
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HAFEZIH
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Life
Very little credible information is
known about Hafez's life, particularly
its early part; there is a great deal of
more or less mythical anecdote. Judging
from his poetry, he must have had a good
education, or else found the means to
educate himself. Scholars generally
agree on the following:
His father Baha-ud-Din is said to
have been a
coal
merchant who died when Hafez was a
child, leaving him and his mother in
debt. It seems probable that he met with
Attar of Shiraz, a somewhat
disreputable scholar, and became his
disciple. He is said to have later
become a poet in the court of
Abu Ishak, and so gained fame and
influence in his hometown. It is
possible that Hafez gained a position as
teacher in a Qur'anic school at this
time.
In his early thirties
Mubariz Muzaffar captured Shiraz and
seems to have ousted Hafez from his
position. Hafez apparently regained his
position for a brief span of time after
Shah Shuja took his father, Mubariz
Muzaffar, prisoner. But shortly
afterwards Hafez was forced into
self-imposed exile when rivals and
religious characters he had criticized
began slandering him. Another possible
cause of his disgrace can be seen in a
love affair he had with a beautiful
Turkish woman,
Shakh-e Nabat. Hafez fled from
Shiraz to
Isfahan and
Yazd for his own safety.
At the age of fifty-two, Hafez once
again regained his position at court,
and possibly received a personal
invitation from Shah Shuja, who pleaded
with him to return. He obtained a more
solid position after Shah Shuja's death,
when
Shah Shuja ascended the throne for a
brief period, before being defeated and
killed by
Tamerlane.
When an old man, he apparently met
Tamerlane to defend his poetry against
charges of blasphemy.
It is generally believed that Hafez
died at the age of 69. His tomb is
located in the Musalla Gardens of
Shiraz (referred to as Hafezieh).
Hafez took ear to his immense
popularity during his lifetime, and
agreed with many others (then and now)
when he wrote:
- نديدم خوشتر از شعر تو حافظ
- به قرآنى كه اندر سينه دارى
- I have never seen any poetry
sweeter than thine, O Hafez,
- I swear it by that Koran
which thou keepest in thy bosom.
Translation by
Edward Granville Browne
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Legends of
Hafez
Many semi-miraculous mythical tales
were woven around Hafez after his death.
Four of them are:
- It is said that, by listening to
his father's recitations, Hafez had
accomplished the task of learning
the
Qur'an by heart, at an early
age. At the same time Hafez is said
to have known by heart, the works of
Molana (Jalal
al-Din Muhammad Rumi),
Sa'di,
Attar, and
Nezami.
- According to one tradition,
before meeting Attar, Hafez had been
working in a local bakery. Hafez
delivered bread to a wealthy quarter
of the town where he saw Shakh-e
Nabat, allegedly a woman of great
beauty, to whom some of his poems
are addressed.
- At age 60 he is said to have
begun a
Chilla-nashini, a 40 Day and
night vigil by sitting in a circle
which he had drawn for himself. On
the 40th Day he once again met with
Attar on what is known to be their
40th anniversary and was offered a
cup of wine. It was there where he
is said to have attained 'Cosmic
Consciousness'.
- In one famous tale, "a tradition
too pretty to be trusted" says a
noted historian,
[citation
needed] the
famed conqueror
Timur the Lame angrily summoned
Hafez to him in to give him an
explanation for one of his verses
- اگر آن ترك شيرازى بدستآرد دل
مارا
- به خال هندويش بخشم سمرقند و
بخارا را
- Belle of Shiraz, grant me but
love's demand,
- And for your mole - that
clinging grain of sand
- Upon a cheek of pearl - Hafiz
would give
- All of Bokhara, all of
Samarkand...
With
Samarkand being
Timur's capital and
Bokhara his kingdom's finest city.
"With the blows of my lustrous sword,"
Timur complained, "I have subjugated
most of the habitable globe...to
embellish Samarkand and Bokhara, the
seats of my government; and you,
miserable wretch, would sell them for
the black mole of a Turk of Shiraz!".
Hafez, so the tale goes, bowed deeply
and replied "Alas, O Prince, it is this
prodigality which is the cause of the
misery in which you find me".
So surprised and pleased was Timur
with this response that he dismissed
Hafez with handsome gifts.
Translated by
Clarence Streit
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Works and
influence
Hafiz's mausoleum at night.
Not much acclaimed in his own Day and
often exposed to the reproaches of
orthodoxy, he greatly influenced
subsequent Persian poets, and left his
mark on such important Western writers
as
Ralph Waldo Emerson. His work was
first translated into English in
1771 by
William Jones.
There is no definitive version of his
collected works (or
diwan); editions vary from 573
to 994 poems. In Iran, his collected
works have come to be used as an aid to
popular
divination. Only since the 1940s has
a sustained scholarly attempt - by
Mas'ud Farzad,
Qasim Ghani and others in
Iran - been made to authenticate his
work, and remove errors introduced by
later copyists and censors. However, the
reliability of such work has been
questioned (Michael Hillmann in 'Rahnema-ye
Ketab' No. 13 (1971),
"Kusheshha-ye Jadid dar Shenakht-e
Divan-e Sahih-e Hafez"), and in the
words of Hafiz scholar
Iraj Bashiri.... "there remains
little hope from there (i.e.: Iran) for
an authenticated diwan".
The history of the translation of
Hafiz has been a complicated one, and
few English translations have been truly
successful, in large part due to the
fact that the figurative gesture for
which he is most famous is ambiguity,
and therefore interpreting of him
correctly requires intuitive perception.
Most recently, 'The Gift: Poems by Hafiz
the Great Sufi Master' a collection of
poems by
Daniel Ladinsky and published in
1999, has been both commercially
successful and a source of controversy.
Although Ladinsky does read Persian,
critics such as Murat Nemet-Nejat
[1], a poet, essayist and translator
of modern Turkish poetry, have asserted
that his translations are largely
inventions, that is to say, Ladinsky's
own inventions. Indeed, Hafiz often uses
images, metaphors and allusions that
assume fields of knowledge shared
between poet and reader.
Though Hafizs poetry is influenced
by his
Islamic faith, he is widely
respected by Hindus, Christians and
others. The Indian sage of Iranian
descent
Meher Baba, who syncretized elements
of Sufism, Hinduism and
Christian mysticism, would recite
Hafiz's poetry until his dying Day.
Sufi religious practice does not
forbid the depiction of God in images,
so Sufi poetry took on metaphorical
language to hide what the real meanings
were: intoxication with wine referred to
spiritual intoxication, and so forth.
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Sample
Translations
The meaning behind the poetry of
Hafiz must, as with all art, be decided
by the patron and observer of the work.
Though credited as being "The
Interpreter of Mysteries," there remain
many mysteries regarding Hafiz that have
yet to be solved. As the poet himself
had said:
- Am I a sinner or a saint,
- Which one shall it be?
- Hafiz holds the secret of his
own mystery...
One of Hafez's greatest fondnesses
was for wine, so when the
Muzaffarids captured Shiraz in
1353 and declared prohibition it is
no surprise that Hafez wrote a mournful
elegy for the loss:
- اگرچه باده فرحبخش و باد
گلبيزست
- به بانگ چنگ مخور مى، كه محتسب
تيز است
- Though wine gives delight,
and the wind distills the perfume of
the rose,
- Drink not the wine to the
strains of the harp, for the
constable is alert.
- در آستين مرقع باده پنهان كن
- كه همچو چشم صراحي، زمانه خونريز
است
- به آب ديده بشوييم خرقهها از مى
- كه موسم ورع و روزگار پرهيز است
- Hide the goblet in the sleeve
of the patchwork cloak,
- For the time, like the eye of
the decanter, pours forth blood.
- Wash the wine stain from your
dervish cloak with tears,
- For it is the season of
piety, and the time for abstinence.
Translation by
Edward Browne
Four years afterward, finding
prohibition unfeasible for the
wine-loving people of Shiraz, the ruler
Shah Shuja repealed that act and for
that reason Hafez immortalized his name
in verse.
Of course, Hafez's fondness for wine
was overshadowed by that of love:
- گفتم غم تو دارم، گفتا غمت سرآيد
- گفتم كه ماه من شو، گفتا اگر
برآيد
- I said I long for thee
- You said your sorrows will
end.
- Be my moon, rise up for me
- Only if it will ascend.
- گفتم ز مهرورزان رسم وفا بياموز
- گفتا ز خوبرويان اين كار كمتر آيد
- I said, from lovers learn
- How with compassion burn
- Beauties, you said in return
- Such common tricks transcend.
- گفتم كه برخيالت راه نظر ببندم
- گفتا كه شبروست او، از راه ديگر
آيد
- Your visions, I will oppose
- My mind's paths, I will close
- You said, this night-farer
knows
- Another way will descend.
- گفتم كه بوى زلفت گمراه عالـمم
كرد
- گفتا اگر بدانى هماوت رهبر آيد
- With the fragrance of your
hair
- I'm lost in my world's affair
- You said, if you care, you
dare
- On its guidance can depend.
- گفتم خوشا هوايى كز باد صبح خيزد
- گفتا خنك نسيمى كز كوى دلبر آيد
- I said hail to that fresh air
- That the morning breeze may
share
- Cool is that breeze, you
declare
- With beloved's air may blend.
- گفتم كه نوش لعلت ما را به آرزو
كشت
- گفتا تو بندگى كن، كو بندهپرور
آمد
- I said, your sweet and red
wine
- Granted no wishes of mine
- You said, in service define
- Your life, and your time
spend.
- گفتم دل رحيمت كى عزم صلح دارد
- گفتا مگوى با كس تا وقت آن درآيد
- I said, when will your kind
heart
- Thoughts of friendship start?
- Said, speak not of this art
- Until it's time for that
trend.
- گفتم زمان عشرت ديدى كه چون
سرآمد؟
- گفتا خموش حافظ كاين قصه هم سرآيد
- I said, happiness and joy
- Passing time will destroy.
- Said, Hafiz, silence employ
- Sorrows too will end my
friend.
Translation by Shahriar Shahriari.
Drunk on the Wine of the
Beloved
Hafez translations by Thomas
Rain Crowe
Miniature of a wine boy
- I have learned so much from
God
- That I can no longer call
myself
- a Christian, a Hindu, a
Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.
- The Truth has shared so much
of Itself with me
- That I can no longer call
myself
- a man, a woman, an angel, or
even a pure soul.
- Love has befriended Hafiz so
completely.
- It has turned to ash and
freed me
- Of every concept and image my
mind has ever known.
The work of Hafez is inspired by the
Sufi teachings of his time, in which the
love of youths and the drinking of
(forbidden) wine are metaphors for
ecstatic religious states that cannot be
otherwise described.
- What choices have I, if I
should not fall in love with that
child?
- Mother Time does not possess
a better son. (Divan, no 396)
- دلبرم شاهد و طفلست و به بازى
روزى
- بكشد زارم و در شرع نباشد گنهش
- My sweetheart is a beauty and
a child, and I fear that in play one
Day
- He will kill me miserably and
he will not be accountable according
to the holy law.
- I have a fourteen year old
idol, sweet and nimble
- For whom the full moon is a
willing slave.
- ميچكد شير هنوز از لب همچون شكرش
- گرچه در شيوهگرى هر مژهاش
قتاليست
- His sweet lips have (still)
the scent of milk
- Even though the demeanor of
his dark eyes drips blood. (Hafez,
Divan, no 284)
- And about the Magian baccha:
- گر چنين جلوه كند مغبچهى
بادهفروش
- خاكروب در ميخانه كنم مژگان را
- If the wine-serving magian
boy would shine in this way
- I will make a broom of my
eyelashes to sweep the entrance of
the tavern. (Divan, no 9)
- گل بىرخ يار خوش نباشد
- بىباده بهار خوش نباشد
- Without the beloveds face,
the rose is not pleasant.
- Without wine, spring is not
pleasant.
- طرف چمن و طواف بستان
- بىلالهعذار خوش نباشد
- The border of the sward and
the air of the garden
- Without the tulip-cheeked is
not pleasant.
- رقصيدن سرو و حالت گل
- بى صوت هزار خوش نباشد
- The dancing of the cypress,
and the rapture of the rose,
- Without the nightingale's
song is not pleasant.
- با يار شكرلب گلاندام
- بىبوس و كنار خوش نباشد
- With the beloved, sugar of
lip, rose of body,
- Without kiss and embrace is
not pleasant.
- هر نقش كه دست عقل بندد
- جز نقش نگار خوش نباشد
- Every picture that reasons's
hand depicteth,
- Save the picture of the idol
is not pleasant.
- جان نقد محقر است حافظ
- از بهر نثار خوش نباشد
- Hafez! the soul is a
despicable coin:
- For sacrificing, it is not
pleasant.
Translation by
Henry Wilberforce-Clarke
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The Tomb
of Hafez
When Hafez died, controversy raged as
to whether or not Hafez should be given
a religious burial in light of his
clearly
hedonistic lifestyle and, at most
times, unorthodox ways. His friends,
however, convinced the authorities using
Hafez's own poetry to allow it. Twenty
years after his death, an elaborate tomb
(the Hafezieh) was erected to
honor Hafez in the Musalla Gardens in
Shiraz. Inside, Hafez's alabaster
tombstone bore one of his poems
inscribed upon it - "profoundly
religious at last" (Durant):
- مژدهى وصل تو كو كز سر جان
برخيزم
- طاير قدسم و از دام جهان برخيزم
- Where are the tidings of
union? that I may arise-
- Forth from the dust I will
rise up to welcome thee!
- My soul, like a homing bird,
yearning for paradise,
- Shall arise and soar, from
the snares of the world set free.
- به ولاى تو كه گر بندهى خويشم
خوانى
- از سر خواجگى كون و مكان برخيزم
- When the voice of thy love
shall call me to be thy slave,
- I shall rise to a greater far
than the mastery
- Of life and the living, time
and the mortal span.
- يارب از ابر هدايت برسان بارانى
- پيشتر زانكه چو گردى ز ميان
برخيزم
- Pour down, O Lord! from the
clouds of thy guiding grace,
- The rain of a mercy that
quickeneth on my grave,
- Before, like dust that the
wind bears from place to place,
- I arise and flee beyond the
knowledge of man.
- بر سر تربت من با مى و مطرب بنشين
- تا ببويت ز لحد رقصكنان برخيزم
- When to my grave thou turnest
thy blessed feet,
- Wine and the lute thou shalt
bring in thine hand to me;
- Thy voice shall ring through
the fold of my winding-sheet,
- And I will arise and dance to
thy minstrelsy.
- گرچه پيرم، تو شبى تنگ درآغوشم كش
- تا سحرگه ز كنار تو جوان برخيزم
- Though I be old, clasp me one
night to thy breast,
- And I, when the dawn shall
come to awaken me,
- With the flush of youth on my
cheek from thy bosom will rise.
- خيز و بالا بنما اى بت
شيرينحركات
- كز سر جان و جهان دستفشان برخيزم
- روز مرگم نفسى مهلت ديدار بده
- تا چو حافظ ز سر جان و جهان
برخيزم
- Rise up! let mine eyes
delight in thy stately grace!
- Thou art the goal to which
all men's endeavor has pressed,
- And thou the idol of Hafez's
worship; thy face
- From the world and life shall
bid him come forth and arise!
Translation by
Gertrude Bell
Nowadays, the Hafezieh is visited by
millions each year and regarded by
countless people to be a veritable
shrine.
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