If it is not too dark- Hafiz

BIOGRAPY

Well, even though I tried to find out about Hafiz's life, I could not find any credible source :S except one. His real name was Shamseddin Mohammad and obviously he was a muslim. He was born on 1325 a.d. in Shiraz, in South-Sentral Iran. From this I understood that he was an Iranian poet and for it is the first time that I read poems from Iranian writers. He had two brother and was married in his early twenties and had a child. After his father death, his family moved to his uncle’ s home. He used to deliver bread to many citizens and by doing this work he meets Shakh-e Nabat- a young woman of incredible beauty. Many of his poems are addressed to Shakh-e Nabat. He died at age of 69. 

What others say about Hafiz:

Goethe: In his poetry Hafiz has inscribed undeniable truth indelibly ... Hafiz has no peer!
Emerson: Hafiz defies you to show him or put him in a condition inopportune or ignoble ... He fears nothing. He sees too far; he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to see or be.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: ...You may remember the old Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who take the tiger cub, and danger also for whosoever snatches a delusion from a woman.' There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world.
Edward Fitzgerald:  The best musician of Words.
Gertrude Bell:  It is as if his mental eye; endowed with wonderful acuteness of vision, had penetrated into those provinces of thought which we of a later age were destined to inhabit.
A. J. Arberry:  Hafiz is as highly esteemed by his countrymen as Shakespeare by us, and deserves as serious consideration.

THE FULL POEM

If It Is Not Too Dark

Go for a walk, if it is not too dark.
Get some fresh air, try to smile.
Say something kind
To a safe-looking stranger, if one happens by.

Always exercise your heart's knowing.

You might as well attempt something real
Along this path:

Take your spouse or lover into your arms
The way you did when you first met.
Let tenderness pour from your eyes
The way the Sun gazes warmly on the earth.

Play a game with some children.
Extend yourself to a friend.
Sing a few ribald songs to your pets and plants -
Why not let them get drunk and wild!

Let's toast
Every rung we've climbed on Evolution's ladder.
Whisper, "I love you! I love you!"
To the whole mad world.

Let's stop reading about God -
We will never understand Him.

Jump to your feet, wave your fists,
Threaten and warn the whole Universe

That your heart can no longer live
Without real love!

~ Hafiz ~

ANALYSIS OF THE POEM:

This poem was wonderful; it is like it was dedicated to someone. The title itself tells us that dark days exist too. At the beginning I thought that this poem was related to title itself but at the end I realized that the poem was related to love-the magical feeling. The line that I mostly liked was “That your heart can no longer live-without real love”. Doubtfully, that is true. If you do not have your lover by your side, you will feel empty. The author suggests that when you are feeling bad and you cannot even talk then walks in the streets, makes the strangers laugh and gives them at least a smile. Maybe, these thing would make your day be brighter…