All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 23:
Strive to be truthful
& the sun will be born
From your breath
Some thoughts:
I love that Hafiz is not demanding perfection, but the striving for truthfulness. It is the progress toward integrity and spiritual alignment that is the thing. The working toward that truthfulness can be hard. It takes effort to be sincere, to say the hard things when the soft things might be easier, to remain steadfast when on the hotseat. Pushing through those moments becomes the clarifying piece of the puzzle that builds the habit of honesty.
Only when we are turning the soil of our souls can the dawn rise from within us. Truth creates a reality where beautiful life can be lived each day with a clean conscience. It is through our breath that we speak forth words, which is the main way we communicate. Life is in the breath. Is it so radical to speak truth, rather than propaganda, lies, distortions, accusations, and misinformation? Apparently so. Hafiz says striving to speak truthfully ends the dark night and renews the morning with promise and hope. It is enough to bring life.
My Poem 23:
Day breaks,
revealing a rising sun
which was there all along,
merely waiting for us to wake up.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 22:
Whether I’m good or evil
Mind your own business
Everyone will harvest
What they’ve sowed
Eventually
Some thoughts:
This one is self-explanatory. There doesn’t seem to be much symbolism that needs to be uncovered. The metaphor of a harvest from what people have sowed in life is a rather tried and true example most people are familiar with. Sow/do evil, evil will reap you eventually. Shakespeare said, “These violent delights have violent ends.” The Bible in the book of Matthew says some version of, “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” People doing messy things will eventually get pulled under by that messiness. Mind your business.
I absolutely do not think Hafiz was up to no good. But that is his whole point. His destiny and relationship status with God is no one’s business but his. If everyone was focused on their own spiritual walk, they would not have time to be busy bodies. He’s saying, “You do you,” nearly 700 years ago. And it is sage advice that still holds up.
My Poem 22:
Mind your business when everyone’s busy getting themselves in trouble. Mind your business when other people seem to be having more fun than you. Mind your business when the gossip gets juicy and you’re tempted to share. Mind your business when your magnificent opinion has not been requested. Mind your business when it doesn’t concern you or yours in any way. Mind your business when you’re bored or looking for dramatic entertainment. Mind your business when to be in the middle don’t make no sense. Mind your business when you don’t know the whole story nohow.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 21:
You might think those who speak harmfully
Will get away with it
But they’re being monitored by
The Recording Angels
Some thoughts:
This one got me pondering what it is to speak harmfully. Of course there are the obvious types of harmful speech like threats, abusive language, hurtful insults, comments meant to undermine a person’s self-confidence, disrespectful utterances, and slander. But there are other types of speech that possibly harm less directly, like gossip, argument simply to sow discord, lies, rude tones, sarcasm mean to wound or undermine, gaslighting, fake news, and attempting to rewrite reality to suit the victor or person in power. None of these is good for the speaker or the receiver of the information. Ultimately, something negative has been unleashed when anyone employs harmful speech as a tactic.
Often, people who make a habit of such behaviors appear to get away with it. Why else would they keep doing it, except that it benefits them and they get their way by using insults and lies as weapons. But Hafiz does not believe that those people will get away with it in the end. He seems to think every word uttered by humans are monitored. Whoever these Recording Angels are, they probably don’t take too kindly to having to work overtime lately. Even if despicable speech goes unpunished today, the speaker has been recorded in somebody’s book as someone who speaks harmfully.
My Poem 21:
As regards the habit of opening the mouth for the purpose of emitting words meant for other people: Speak kindly to others, and be generous with praise. Share appreciation easily. Be quick with a soothing word, with compassion overflowing. Let poetry and song spring forth with abundance. Offer gentle reassurance, and share steady encouragement. Keep truth on the tip of the tongue, and only fill silence with peace, tenderness, humor, vulnerability, genuine friendliness, graciousness, humility, and hopefulness.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 20:
Speak not to the Imposters Of the wonders of Love’s intoxication Let them die in arrogant ignorance & the agony of self-cherishing
Some thoughts:
Let me begin by saying that I don’t think Hafiz is being vindictive to his haters in this poem. My take on it is more symbolic. I mean, he definitely had enemies who made his life more difficult, but it wouldn’t be very mystical or spiritual to wish literal death on them. In his poetry, Hafiz uses the symbol of Love and intoxication to represent ecstatic union, spiritual vulnerability, holy joy. The imposters are people pretending to be part of the community, mimicking that spiritual language, borrowing the symbols of holiness but refusing enlightenment. He knows there is no point talking with them about the depths of love because they won’t get it. They are too wrapped up in appearances, fakeness, and ego.
In the end, their obsession with themselves is their reward. Their prison is internal, a tight, lonely circle of selfishness. There is no need to do them any harm. Simply stop feeding into their false image and they will exhaust themselves. Eventually, the illusion will collapse. The real agony is that they are not opening themselves up to true love with the divine and all that beauty.
My Poem 20:
To be an ally is to do the work: Read the books Watch the videos Take the classes Listen— Stop talking and hear the uncomfortable words that sting Try to understand the ache beneath
Ask the hard questions of yourself Remove the burden from the oppressed of teaching you how to act Think of their plight as you enjoy your privilege Admit when you have been wrong Apologize— for your previous ignorance and lack of empathy
Humble yourself enough to swallow the pain and regret of generations of wrongdoing and stop making excuses for choosing safe naïveté Teach— others like you the truth with unwavering patience and determination because lives depend on it
Remove the walls that protect your illusions of them and us and join the conversation Show up to help when a need arises without being asked Speak up if anyone tries to other people in your presence Spend— your money consciously Support creators and makers whose values coincide
Reparations must come in the form of willingness Amends of service in the hearts and minds of descendants because that is all some of us have to offer Heal— your own brokenness so you are battle-ready and resolved.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 19:
The town is empty of love
Until one person
Acts beyond their self
Some thoughts:
Sometimes powerful movements start small:
One little girl protesting outside the Swedish Parliament about the climate (Great Thunberg).
A small group of students protesting education policies in South Africa (1976 Soweto Uprising).
One woman refusing to give up her seat on a bus (Rosa Parks).
A hashtag in response to the acquittal of a murderer (Black Lives Matter).
One woman researching the dangers of pesticides for a book she was writing (Silent Spring by Rachel Carson and the beginning of The Environmental Movement of the 1960s).
We often don’t feel like our contributions matter or the fact that we are only one person cannot possibly make a difference. It simply is not true. Each choice we make to share love or kindness increases goodness in the world. The ripple effect can restore relationships, heal families, and build communities. And team up with a likeminded friend or partner? Imagine the good we can do; the help we can offer this broken world. Hafiz knew this, must have witnessed it, or was that person for someone else. That is who I want to be.
My Poem 19:
A kind word offered
may mean the world to someone
who has nothing else.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 17:
Vanity, my dear
Is merely proof
Of sheer ignorance
Some thoughts:
Hafiz seems to be addressing someone he cares about, by calling them “my dear.” This does not seem like a harsh rebuke, but more of a compassionate, gentle reminder. There is no need to be vain if we understand our true worth. Either we are over or under-inflating reality when we assess ourselves as less than or greater than we should.
If we mistake attention for worth, confuse a mask for the self, or are more concerned about appearance than authenticity, we are missing the mark. We are beautiful, magical, stardust creatures who are part of a giant, miraculous cosmos. We should not forget our true fabulousness by replacing it with vain imaginings that are neither helpful nor accurate. We are better than that.
My Poem 17:
Both extremes of vanity are inaccurate reflections of your miraculous beauty.
You are but dust and ashes, no greater than anyone else on this giant flying rock.
But the point is that you are stardust and magic, the hope of your ancestors made real.
Don’t confuse being ordinary with missing the fabulous truth that you are a singularity.
There has never been and never will be another you the same as the wondrous you right now.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
Iimages created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 16:
Those preachers Who appear glorious In pulpits & on altars Yet in private Act totally the opposite
Some thoughts:
When I was growing up, televangelists were all the rage. It was the era of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart. Televised preachers could paint a picture of righteousness and convince millions of people to send them money. Their private lives were not so righteous. The reality was filled with scandal, corruption, and behaviors that were quite the opposite of the messages they were preaching.
I guess the platform was a newly designed sort of soap box, but the concept was nothing new. There have always been those who will profit off a public perception of holiness, but it is merely a performance. Perhaps humanity should learn not to put others on soap boxes and accept that everyone is human, faulty, and corruptible.
Jimmy Swaggart from YouTube video (link below.)
My Poem 16:
“Those that climb to the highest heights spiritually can fall to the lowest depths.”
In a baby blue 3-piece suit. Pacing back and forth, then planting himself in a wide spread-eagle stance like he’s doing the most powerful power pose he can think of.
“As faulty worship caused death then, it can cause death now.”
In a sing-song, monotone, ever-crescendoing preacher cadence.
“You are obligated before God to walk holy and to walk righteous before an adulterous and wicked generation that’s dying and going to hell.”
The audience breaks out in applause. Why are we clapping? Because people are going to hell? Because we are being obliged to be better than them? I’m confused.
“We just started a ball team, and I told them, I said, If girls show up on that ball diamond with shorts on, I will appreciate you and do everything I can to help you in Jesus, but I’ll send you home to get some clothes on.”
Even bigger round of applause. Again, what are we clapping for? Jimmy Swaggart’s admission that he will lust after young girls if they are wearing shorts? What in the hell?
He speaks of himself in the 3rd person.
“Jimmy Swaggart, you’re preaching that in California? Are you out of your mind?”
He holds a Bible aloft to demonstrate that “this doesn’t change” even if things have changed in the rest of the world.
“You may look at me like a calf lookin’ at a new gate and preachers may get off behind my back and snicker, but I’m going to preach what this word says.”
He won’t kick you out of the church. He’ll pray for you, sit with your sick, wipe your brow, cry and weep for you, but he will tell you what “thus sayeth the Lord.”
I guess the Lord says He doesn’t like girls on ball diamonds wearing shorts.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 15:
The tavern door’s been closed up Oh God
May this not open the door
To the house of hypocrisy & lies
Some thoughts:
When morality is legislated harshly and too conservatively, Hafiz seems to be implying, the stage is set for inauthenticity and deception. When we judge others for their faults, weaknesses, or perceived sins, we are focusing in the wrong direction. Don’t we have our own lives that need work? “I would never…” is the common refrain of the hypocrite. Many different religious traditions have examples of spiritual greatness being found in unexpected moments that would be perceived by others as sinful or improbable.
The weaponizing of purity destroys authentic community and honest communication and instead creates an atmosphere of performative righteousness. Appearances become more important than vulnerability, truth, or freedom. Pretension takes the place of connection. Control replaces joy and expression. And obedience replaces love. People tend to lie more when they have to hide their true selves.
My Poem 15 (This is of course facetious, a picture of hypocrisy.):
Praise the Lord I am nothing like those sinners who break the law to provide for their families.
I would never because I was born here in the land of the free and am a good religious person of faith.
People should accept the fate they’ve been handed with grace and obedience instead of causing problems for everyone else.
You’ll never see me stealing resources for myself and taking advantage of a system that is too soft on thieves.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 14:
The chief cop
Has chopped off
The lovely hair
Of the harp
Some thoughts:
Whether literal or figurative, the imagery is breathtakingly sad. Some institutional authority figures or law enforcement representatives have stifled beauty, art, or freedom of expression. Quite literally, some depots during Hafiz’s time (and today) outlawed certain music, literature, art, plays, and performances that they deemed dangerous or anti-them. The banning of books, words, ideas, thoughts, and symbols is nothing new. It is as old as dictators, and simply vile. Cutting off the harp’s hair is an attempt to shame, silence, humiliate, and send a message of fear and warning to anyone else who might dare threaten defiance.
Some authority figures are going beyond art and music, to the banning of words they do not prefer because they are too inclusive, diverse, and gender-affirming. The following is a list of words the current Trump administration has instructed federal agencies to avoid in all official documentation (and reject if used on applications for grants.) Basically, these are “banned” words that cannot be used if you want federal funding.
My Poem 14:
6,870 books were banned in public schools last year. These were all books on my Texas classroom library shelves: The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison Looking for Alaska John Green Wicked Gregory Maguire Life of Pi Yann Martel Lock and Key Sarah Dessen House of Night series P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast My Sister’s Keeper Jodi Picoult November Blues Sharon Draper Safe Haven Nicholas Sparks The Chocolate War Robert Cormier The Help Kathryn Stockett The House of the Scorpion Nancy Farmer Twilight Stephenie Meyer Walk Two Moons Sharon Creech Zorro Isabel Allende Sideways Stories from Wayside School Louis Sachar The House on Mango Street Sandra Cisneros 1984 George Orwell Gabi, a Girl in Pieces Isabel Quintero Native Son Richard Wright Speak Laurie Halse Anderson Scrub and sanitize, whitewash the outside of the tombs. The children will have to teach themselves the truth outside the hallowed public school halls. They know intuitively the stench of lies beneath the flowers and perfume, and your bans only increase their curiosity.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
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 13:
Once, this was a city of friends
In a land of kind people –
What happened to the love
& where are the compassionate leaders
Some thoughts:
Hafiz seems to be remembering nostalgically the collective culture of his homeland during a gentler time. It sounds like it was a lovely time of peace and people who felt like they belonged in community. Maybe the inhabitants even took pride in how friendly and welcoming they were. Now things have changed. He is writing in a time that feels discouraging, unkind, less of a collective support system. The love is gone. Compassion is absent in leadership. They are not protecting the vulnerable, demonstrating care, or displaying accountability. People probably feel isolated, afraid to speak their truth, and unsure who to trust.
My Poem 13:
What moral drift has left us alone with our thoughts, afraid to speak, tender to the touch?
Murals have faded. Warmth only a memory bereft of substance. Lack of accountability creates fear, erodes trust.
Is kindness optional? Does human dignity disappear because politics plays ugly games with ethical dilemmas?
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
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