Friendship
For sake of these two splendours do the wise Set store on riches, & for these alone: For these two glories only do they prize Power & majesty of kingly throne: Or this: to succour friendship in distress, To comfort humble sorrow, nor despise To cheer the joyless heart of weariness, To guard & aid whom fortune doth oppress That he to life’s glad kingdom be restor’d (& thus their monument of thanks they raise More high than pomp’s vain pinnacle of praise), Or this: to forge therefrom a trenchant sword Whereat shall poltroon evil cower & fly, & smite Hell’s fiends of foulness that they die.
This piece exalts friendship as a pinnacle of human virtue, presenting it as a purpose of wealth and power rather than a byproduct. The poet delineates two paths for glory: the nurturing of the downtrodden and the eradication of evil. It resonates deeply with Hafez's philosophy of love and moral fortitude, where human connection and moral action transcend material pursuits. Friendship here becomes both the means and the end, symbolizing divine grace manifest in human relationships. Hafez would likely align with this view, often portraying earthly bonds as reflections of the celestial.
Chapter I.
Attainment
When the strong climber his last mountain-crest
Attaineth, & the point for which he strove Is reached, & his desire made manifest, & seating him the topmost heights above He gazeth on each aspect leisurely, Considering the path by which he clomb & which so many attempted, & how he The first of all his race had strength to come Unto that eminence, & how this throne Shall men hereafter to his name recall; Then more than ever is he strangely lone, Seeing earth’s dwellings spread out far & small; & more unfathom’d seemeth & more high, Eternal heaven’s unchanged immensity.
This segment contemplates the loneliness of achievement. After conquering a great height, the climber experiences isolation and an acute awareness of the vastness of the heavens. This mirrors Hafez's frequent meditations on the paradox of spiritual attainment: reaching divine proximity often leads to a profound humility, realizing one's smallness in the grandeur of existence. The focus on reflection—both on the journey and the solitude of success—highlights the transient nature of worldly glory.
Chapter II.
Paradise
Tell me not
mournful Preacher, that to prize Beauty of flower or song or mistress fair, Is to forgo the sweets of Paradise. Say not, ‘Life’s pleasance is a deathly snare: Shun it, so would’st thou save thy soul alive; Blind thee, & in drear temple pray & strive’. Know thou, all gladness is God’s house of grace; All loveliness is thy Belovéd’s face; All beauteous earth is Heav’n’s gay garden-ground. To love the rose, the fair, the gladsome bird, Life’s lovely bliss, wherever it be found, To love love’s truth from whomsoever heard, This is their faith, who see with seeing eyes, Their worship & their endless Paradise.
This piece challenges asceticism and celebrates the sensory joys of life as divine blessings. The poet asserts that beauty, love, and nature are gateways to the divine, opposing the notion that spiritual salvation requires rejecting earthly pleasures. Hafez, a champion of integrating life’s joy with spirituality, would embrace this ethos. His ghazals often celebrate wine, flowers, and love as symbols of divine beauty and paths to enlightenment.
Chapter III.
Spirits
O gentle weariness
Thine is the power that can all spirits free From bonding-trouble, thou art a goddess To all the suffering slaves of misery. Thy sanctuary No suppliant vainly seeketh; wheresoe’er Desperate grief is, then unfailingly Is thine all-hallowing rest & refuge there. Our sorrow hath outgrown Solace, yet still in thine all-mothering hand Is balm of soft oblivion, who alone Our never-ending needs dost understand.
This passage venerates weariness as a sacred force capable of liberating troubled souls. It anthropomorphizes weariness into a compassionate goddess, offering solace and refuge to those burdened by sorrow. In Hafez’s poetry, there is a recurring acknowledgment of despair and exhaustion as preludes to divine grace. He often portrays the act of surrender—giving in to weariness—as a necessary step toward spiritual renewal.
Chapter IV.
Sacrifice
All things born to break
In meek sacrifice For another’s sake, All man’s striving vain, Lavish’d as the price Of the heart’s hid pain— Long, O spirit-bird, Of thy lonely fear Hast thou sung unheard In hope’s moon-lit wood, While no creature near Knew nor understood.
The poet reflects on the universal cycle of sacrifice and the unacknowledged suffering that underpins existence. This aligns with Hafez’s recurring themes of love's pain and the hidden beauty in endurance. The "spirit-bird" singing in lonely hope evokes Hafez’s imagery of nightingales singing amidst thorns, symbolizing love's resilience and the silent strength of those who endure for others.