Life is way too short

Growing up in Iran, it was mandatory to study Persian literature.   I regularly had to memorize Persian poetry and was often examined on it.  Not fun at all.   

I had a very difficult time relating to Persian literature, particularly poetry and notably Hafiz.  I was told by my 6th-grade  teacher, that 'Hafiz is this mystical poet that would help us reach a better life.'  Those days and for a teenager, a better life didn't have such mystical purpose and memorization of such verses compounded to the misery.

Let me briefly introduce you to Hafiz.  He is the 14th-century Persian poet.  His work is not only beautiful; it is beyond useful in life.   Hafiz poetry teaches us how to get the most out of our lives.  The man - Hafiz -  is one of the most respected and loved poets among Persians.  In fact, from Emerson to Goethe and many others have viewed him to be one of the seven literary sensations of the world.  

Both Emerson and Goethe have translated Hafiz.  Emerson stated of Hafiz:  "He fears nothing.  He sees too far, he sees throughout: such is the only man I wish to see or be."  Goethe's extensive study of Hafiz - utterly states, "Hafiz has no peer." 

Thinking of those days in middle school and how I ought to memorize his poetry as a teenager does not leave me with many pleasant thoughts.  Not knowing that many people like Nietzche admired his poetry, even Sherlock Holmes quotes Hafiz.  The legendary 19th-century Spanish poetGarcia Lorca praised Hafiz many times.  And the musical legend, Brahms was so moved by Hafiz verses that he adopted several in his compositions.  Queen Victoria too was said to have consulted Hafiz poetry in times of need.  

As a tourist in Iran, one will never leave the land without being offered  "FAL - E - Hafiz" which is an ancient tradition in which a reader asks Hafiz for advice when facing a hurdle or a critical crossroads in their life.  I have taken Fal-e-Hafiz many times, treating Hafiz as an oracle and opening it with a profound wish from my soul for direction.  

I have a confession to make.  I have stopped reading poetry since I attended middle school.  Nonetheless, I was reintroduced or candidly introduced to Hafiz last week when I picked up a book in Farsi (my native language) by Masoud Khayam.   How I know the author is irrelevant, but how he made Hafiz enter my heart for the first time is deserving of contemplation.  

Majority of us have been born in the East, in Asia.  Poetry has been certainly a favorite literary class for thousands of years in the East.   There is a famous Chinese saying coming from Zhao Yi - the historian of Qing dynasty that "the anxiety of the land leads to the emergence of great poets" 国家不幸诗家幸 - or perhaps more literally "when the state is unfortunate, poets are fortunate."   In the East, remarkable men like Hafiz and Zhao Yi have observed the phenomenon in which classic works of poetry often appears during times of disaster; war, starvation, dynastic destruction and so on.   In the epilogue of his book, Masoud Khayam reminds us that Hafiz lived during the Mongol conquest of Persia.  But we are reminded how poetry is perfectly dwelled in times of turmoil and tragedy.  When things go wrong, you can trust that poets will find a way to put into words what many are thinking and feeling.  

What Hafiz and Zhao Yi say to remind us of Sichuan Earthquake of 2008 that killed over 70,000 lives but remarkably an outpouring of poems that widely circulated on the cyber space, in newspapers and on televisions and radio at fundraising events.  It was an extraordinary form of writing that followed from emotions and passions. 

Masoud Khayam's Hafiz book reminded me that we read poetry because the world is more than the facts, laws, and realities.  

Life is way too short, only poems will make it last a bit longer.