HAFIZ

HAFIZ: A badass poet from the 14th c. He was born in 1320 in Shiraz, Persia. He died in 1389. For reference that is roughly the same time Chaucer was kicking about this earth. I did the math, that means he was 69 years old when he died. I wish he’d have lived longer. Regardless of his short life, (by 21st c. standards, 69 is probably a ripe old age for the 14th c.) He is estimated to have written 5,000 poems. Out of those 5,000 about 500 to 700 poems are all that have survived. His parents gave him the name Shams-ud-din Muhammad, he gave himself the name Hafiz. Don’t call him Shams-ud-din Muhammad. He is a Persian poet.

So, tell me more about this Hafiz guy. WELL, he was a Sufi master. What is a Sufism? It’s a concept in Islam, defined by scholars as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam; others contend that it is a perennial philosophy of existence that predates religion, the expression of which flowered within the Islamic religion I googled that definition and it lacks a little something in explaining what Sufis are so here is my attempt at explaining further what Sufism is: They want to be as close to Allah as they can and fully embrace the Divine Presence in this life. They aren’t really all about practiced religion (outer law) they focus on what they call inner law; Trying to be a good person through love and purging themselves of evil traits of character. Another person of note who was Sufi: Rumi (another awesome Persian poet)

Things Hafiz was ALL about: He believed in God but he wasn’t really interested in organized religion. (see his poem “Stop Being So Religious”) He was always asking the real questions like: “Who Will Feed My Cat?” and “Why Aren’t We Screaming Drunks?” He said the things we were all thinking: “Something ain’t right about this Camel ride” (from his poem “Damn Thirsty”) But mostly Hafiz was all about love, (in all it’s forms) understanding and knowledge.

Wait a second, didn’t she say he was from the 14th c.? Yes. Yes I did. So then what does that have to do with Socially Engaged media? Here is my explanation for this: Hafiz wrote in a way that transcends time. And I’m not just saying that to bullshit with y’all. He really did. I’ve never read a Hafiz poem and thought “Oh this guy is so 14th c.” If I haven’t already read you some of his poems when I talked about them last slide I will read you one now.

If You Don’t Stop That I used to live in A cramped house with confusion And pain. But then I met the Friend And started getting drunk And singing all Night. Confusion and pain Started acting nasty, Making threats, With talk like this, “If you don’t stop ‘that’— All that fun— We’re Leaving.”

Explanation as to why this presentation is relevant continued: If that last poem sounded dated to you then lets just agree to disagree. But if it sounded every bit as relevant to life in the 21st c. as it did in the 14th c. awesome! Maybe you’re now a Hafiz fan. Now that we’re all on board with this “his poems transcend time” defense… So what? That doesn’t make him socially engaged. To that I say; “True.” If I haven’t read you one of his poems about religion I will do so now.

The Great Religions The Great religions are the Ships, Poets the life Boats. Every sane person I know has jumped Overboard. That is good for business Isn’t it Hafiz?

If you’re religious I’m genuinely sorry if that offended you. In this world there is no shortage of religious extremism, Hafiz’s solution? Poetry/artistic pursuit. Use art to call out the powers that be. Is that not what this class is all about? In this poem he’s talking specifically about Religion but he talks about Kings in other poems. (okay I guess that does make you think; “Oh this guy is so 14th c.” just substitute “kings” for “government”) So we see Hafiz, used his artistic talent to try and reflect the issues of this world (The Great Religions) but also to highlight our worlds greatest strengths (If You Don’t Stop That).

This presentation is over I’ve probably run out of time. So I’m going to wrap it up now: Hafiz is cool, if you liked these poems you should check him out. (Check out Rumi too) Here are some famous people who also thought Hafiz was a badass: Nietzsche Pushkin Turgenev Arthur Conan Doyle Ralph Waldo Emerson (He translated Hafiz in the 19th c.) Goethe (Hafiz became know in to the west through Goethe’s and Emerson’s efforts)