The verse from this Hafez poem that struck me most was, “Even if the flood of materialism drowns everything, do not sink into sadness, because Noah is your captain.” We each need to build our own ark to carry us through and over the flood, to bring together all the dualities of life—the “two by two” with which Noah populated his ark. We need to build the supports of our life so that they are in place not only when things are going well, but especially when we feel lost or when the world’s materiality and unkindness seem to surround us. In this poem, Hafez reminds us about the timbers our spiritual ark is made from. And he reminds us that things are always changing, and there are “plays within plays that you cannot see.” Whatever your spiritual path, whatever texts bring you inspiration and remind you of your spiritual source, whatever companions can accompany you on the spiritual journey, and however you can sing your songs, all these will help you build an ark to take you beyond the flood.
Do Not Sink into Sadness
by Hafez
Joseph the lost will return, Jacob should not
Sink into sadness; those who sit in the Grief
House will eventually sit in the Garden.
The grieving chest will find honey; do not let
The heart rot. The manic hysterical head
Will find peace; do not sink into sadness.
If the way the Milky Way revolves ignores
Your desires for one or two days, do not
Sink into sadness: All turning goes as it will.
I say to the bird: “As long as spring
Baptizes the grass, the immense scarlet blossoms
Will continue to sway over your head.”
Even if the flood of materialism
Drowns everything, do not sink into
Sadness, because Noah is your captain.
Do not sink into sadness, even though the mysteries
Of the other world slip past you entirely.
There are plays within plays that you cannot see.
When you’re lost in the desert, full of longing
For the Kaaba, and the Arabian thornbush
Pierces your feet, do not sink into sadness.
Although the way station you want to reach
Is dangerous and the goal distant, do not
Sink into sadness; all roads have an end.
God knows our whole spiritual state: separated
From Him and punished by rivals. Still do not
Sink into sadness. God is the one who changes conditions.
Oh, Hafez, in the darkness of poverty and in
The solitude of the night, as long as you can sing
And study the Qur’an, do not sink into sadness.
translated by Robert Bly and Leonard Lewisohn
Art by Odilon Redon, “Red Boat with Blue Sail”
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