God is the enduring one, and everything else is transient.
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Sufi
Hafiz
Sufic. 1315 – c. 1390Shiraz, Persia (modern-day Iran)126 quotes
Hafiz (Khwaja Shams-ud-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi) was a 14th-century Persian poet whose ghazals — short, intoxicating lyric poems — use the imagery of wine, taverns, and earthly love as symbols for the soul's union with the divine. He is considered the supreme master of the Persian ghazal and his Divan has been used as a book of spiritual divination for centuries.
Born and living almost his entire life in Shiraz, Hafiz memorized the Quran as a young man (giving him his pen name, which means 'one who has memorized the Quran') and spent decades studying Sufi poetry and Islamic learning. He became court poet and was known for his extraordinary wit, charm, and an ability to speak simultaneously on multiple levels — as love poetry, as social satire, and as mystical teaching. His Divan (collected poems) contains around 500 ghazals that are so rich in ambiguity that they have been interpreted as literal love poetry, as Sufi mysticism, and as coded political commentary. In Iran and across the Persian-speaking world, the Divan of Hafiz is kept in homes alongside the Quran and consulted as an oracle by opening to a random page. His influence on Goethe, Emerson, and countless other Western thinkers helped bring Persian mystical poetry to global audiences.
Wisdom
When death approaches you, and your life's sand is slipping away, death lays two fingers on your ears and two on your eyes, and one on your lips, whispering: be silent.
Hafiz says, "I am the servant of all who scatter the dregs of the cup and are clothed in one color, that is, clothed in sincerity, but not of those whose bodies are clad in blue while black is the color of their heart."
I see great turmoil beneath the moon's orbit, with every part of the earth filled with evil and wickedness. There is strife among our daughters and contention among our mothers, and fathers are ill-disposed towards their sons.
The ultimate goal for Sufis is to attain a state where they forget their separate existence and lose themselves in the Divinity, just like a drop of water merges into the ocean.
Everything is from God and is a part of God. He contains both existence and non-existence within himself. When he chooses, he casts his reflection into the void, and this reflection becomes the universe.
Every person who has annihilated their ego and is completely separated from themselves hears a voice within their heart saying, 'I am God.'
God, show me the path to the one who receives your blessings. God replied, Go to Rome, you will find him in a certain monastery.
His spirit is clouded, and he does not know he has strayed. Since he erred out of ignorance, I forgive him and allow him to enter the highest place.
The world is like the shadow of a cloud and a dream of the night.
The speaker is expressing sadness and regret over a loss, highlighting the importance of cherishing time with loved ones.
When I'm dead, open my grave and you'll see smoke rising from it, proving that the fire still burns in my heart, even setting my shroud ablaze.
Even if I've been dead for a hundred years, if the scent of her hair were to reach my remains, my decaying bones would rise and dance out of the tomb.
The heart and soul are focused on the desire of the Beloved; at least, that's what we have, because without it, the heart and soul are nothing.
The things that wise men, who are sometimes called drunkards and sometimes seers, want to express through the words wine, cup and cup-bearer, musician, magian, and Christian girdle, are so many profound mysteries that they sometimes translate into a riddle and sometimes reveal.
Rise, oh Cup-bearer, and bring the bowl they praise to those who are thirsty. Love seemed easy, but my path has become difficult.
I have prayed for the wind to carry the fragrance of musk to her hair, but even in her sleep, no fragrance remains. My heart weeps with sad tears.
Oh Hafiz, seeking an end to your struggles, remember what the wise have written: "If you finally attain your heart's desire, cast the world aside and abandon it."
Lest Sorrow's army destroys your heart's kingdom, I send my life to bring you peace again, dear life, as your ransom.
But, dear love, let good advice guide your path. The warnings of someone who has grown wise and grey are more valuable to the young than life itself.