I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.

Hafiz’s Poem 33:

Adam gave up Paradise

For just one nice ripe apple

What if one world is only worth

One hard stale raisin

?

Some thoughts:

This poem feels a little cheeky. Irony keeps the interpretation in question. If Adam was willing to give up Paradise for an apple, was it worth it? What did he gain? Is Hafiz suggesting that the fall was an opportunity for growth? Most religious leaders of Abrahamic faiths would argue that such thinking is blasphemous, yet Hafiz goes on to ask about the possibility that such a trade could occur for even less of a temptation, a hard stale raisin. Maybe the eating of the fruit was not really of any consequence. Perhaps the development of knowing right and wrong, choosing free will, embarking on an individual hero’s journey was the inevitable event, given the curiosity of the creations who resembled the creator.

Hafiz doesn’t commit to any one view. He simply asks the question, suggesting that perhaps we do not fully understand the exchange that was made, beyond the basic information passed down through the ages. What is one world worth? Did Adam and Eve take their world for granted? Probably. Don’t we take our world for granted most of the time? But what if they also desired more? More than blind obedience. What are we willing to trade for peace? What are we willing to trade for safety? What are we willing to compromise on for those we love? Had Adam not eaten of the fruit, would he have lost Eve? There are so many questions left unanswered that only a fool would claim to know what they would do in the same circumstances.

My Poem 33:

By the light of a mid-month moon,
my love gathered figs by the handful.
Her plump, ripe lips, a sticky, sweet boon,
as I kissed the taste of the tree’s jewel.

That rich ambrosia, nectar of gods,
forbidden for reasons unknown.
Angels eat the fruit, so I find it odd,
that the restriction applies to us alone.

Why was I made and given this mate,
if not to experience all and to learn?
To know good and evil, not to hesitate,
is the knowledge for which I yearn.

The taste of truth, bittersweet and bold,
that’s what this is, what I’ve come to crave.
The consequence is growing old,
and learning pain only taught by the grave.

Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.