My love affair with the poetry of Hafiz began six years ago. There's a folder on my computer, full of screenshots of his poems I'd found online, dated 7th December 2019, and then apparently that very same day I bought three of the four most popular compendiums of his work. I bought the fourth, just six days later.
A thirst I was hell-bent on quenching, it seems! 🥵
I'd come across the 3 Principles and my life had changed beyond recognition just over one year previously, and it took me that long to want to immerse myself utterly in these little love letters.
(In a way, this was a prelude to the Daily Reminders.)
The ‘G’ word
I first heard of Hafiz from one of my mentors, Jamie Smart. He'd often relate A Cushion For Your Head to an audience, and while I liked the overall sentiment—“Don't do a thing, just rest”—at first I was put off a bit by the use of ‘God’ in it.
At the time, it felt like I had a complicated relationship with ‘God’ and I didn't really see the need to be bringing religion into these funny, insightful, spiritual poems.
And then as I read more, I started to get it. In a way, Hafiz helped me to ‘get my head round’ the idea of religion as a whole and make peace with the ‘G’ word.
Because I realised he wasn't referring to some judgemental being—the God I'd grown up with—he was just talking about the energy of life itself. (‘Universal Mind’ in 3 Principles terms.)
The thing that beats your heart and heals wounds and entire bodies, in spite of the things us doctors do. (And the thing that produces these words, let's face it.)
I'm really grateful to Hafiz for that, but if we're going to read more, there are a couple of uncomfortable truths we need to face.
You say Hāfez, I say Hafiz
Let's get the obvious one out of the way, first. It's the Western world that has adopted the name ‘Hafiz’ (that you'll hear me pronounce “Ha-feez”) when in reality it's Hāfez (pronounced “Haa-fez).
So there's that. (I shall continue to say “Ha-feez” because it's muscle memory now, I'm really sorry.)
But the next misconception blew me away. Because when you're busy waxing lyrical about how much you love Hafiz poetry, unless you speak actual Farsi and are something of a scholar of 14th Century Persian mysticism, then you're not reading Hafiz at all.
😳
His lyrics (for they are to be accompanied by music) are impossible to translate into English, and have meanings that exist only in rhythm and timbre that emerge when performed, having no equivalence in our language.
Many words used have double, triple, sometimes quadruple meanings, are infused with mystic connotations from the times, and there's actually a mathematical structure to many of his rubā‘īyāt or ghazals.
So there's that, too.
No such thing as Santa
The real kicker, though, is that if you're reading from any of the popular Hafiz texts ‘translated’ by Daniel Ladinsky—which are the sources of exquisite beauty I use exclusively; and what you'll find peppered across the internet—they are literally nothing to do with the Persian, Hāfez-penned mystical poetry so beloved by Iranians.
😵💫
How do I know this?
Well, firstly, in my quest to gain a deeper appreciation of his work, in advance of running my own Hafiz & Innate Health course, I attended a webinar devoted to his Divān, that was put on by one of the aforementioned scholars of 14th Century Persian mysticism.
And when I asked whether the humour and irreverence of the Ladinsky ‘renditions’ was an accurate reflection of the original works, I was practically booted off the call!!
Secondly, the non-Persian speaking American poet Ladinsky himself—the very guy whose name appears as the ‘Translator’ on the fronts of his books—has said so, claiming instead to have been visited by Hāfez in a dream, and making it very clear that:
…my poems are not ‘translations’ in any traditional sense. They are not intended to be literal or scholarly or even ‘accurate.’
There is no Hafiz poem entitled ‘A Cushion For Your Head’ – only a Ladinsky one, written ‘in the spirit of Hafiz.’
💁🏻♂️
If you want to read around this yourself, you should visit Daniel Ladinsky's website (‘My Portrait of Hafiz’) and also maybe read this somewhat hacked-off blog post from a Persian commentator: ‘Fake Hafez: How a supreme Persian poet of love was erased’. Finally, there's an essay from another writer who practically broke himself attempting the feat, detailing all the reasons why it's impossible: ‘On Not Translating Hafez’.
Permission slip
I'm sorry if I've somewhat broken the spell – it's a bit like learning that Santa isn't real, all over again, isn't it? 😫
But I wanted to be up front with you on this one, because we're about to launch into another 12 Days of Hafiz, where I shall be truly ‘getting into the spirit of Hafiz’, sharing some more of Ladinsky's poems and giving you my own take on what they mean and how they relate to the Innate Health understanding.
I have also addressed the potential fly in the ointment: copyright.
I've always been a bit baffled as to how so much of Ladinsky's poetry is freely available on other people's websites, in written, audio and video form – is that not illegal?!
For a while I thought I'd just chance it, but I'm a goody two-shoes at heart, and had an attack of conscience at the eleventh hour. I decided that since I'd be putting content up on my new website, I should play by the letter of the law and not share someone else's work, verbatim.
And then at the eleventh-and-a-halfth hour, I decided to take a punt and contacted him directly, setting out my plans and casting myself at his mercy: pleeeeeeease could I use them, for general discussion and enlightenment purposes??
🙏🏻
And I got a Yes! 🙌🏻
The 12 Days of Hafiz
So, as I take a little time off from writing over Christmas to spend time with my family (and maybe ride my bike a bit), we'll have another 12 of Daniel's poems that I've curated, examined, reflected on, written about and narrated for you, all coming up.
I can tell you now, it's a feast!
💟
Giles