Classic Poetry - "Your Mother and My Mother" by Shams-ud-din Muhammed aka Hafiz of Shiraz

Hafiz of Shiraz, 1320 - 1389

Fear is the cheapest room in the house

I would like to see you living

In better conditions,

for your mother and my mother

Were friends.

I know the Innkeeper

In this part of the universe.

Get some rest tonight,

Come to my verse tomorrow.

We’ll go speak to the Friend together.

I should not make any promises right now,

But I know if you

Pray

Somewhere in this world-

Something good will happen.

God wants to see

More love and playfulness in your eyes

For that is your greatest witness to Him.

Your soul and my soul

Once sat together in the Beloved’s womb

Playing footsie.

Your heart and my heart

are very, very old

Friends.

Hafiz, also known as Hafez, was born Shams-ud-din Muhammed in Shiraz, Persia, and was a contemporary of Chaucer in England. Hafiz lived most of his life in his home town, became a Sufi master and is believed to have written over 5,000 poems. Fewer than 700 are in existence today.

Fellow poet and friend, Sherry Blue Sky, wrote an informative article last year about Hafiz and another Persian poet, Rumi. Check it out here.

To read more work by Hafiz, read The Gift, translated by Daniel Ladinsky.

Classic Poetry - "Friend..." by Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi

Jalal ad-Dīn Muhammad Rumi

1207 – 1273

Friend, our closeness is this.

Anywhere you put your foot

feel me in the firmness under you.

How is it with this love,

I see your world and not you?

Rumi, one of my favorite poets, is a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to writers and spiritual seekers throughout the world. I am amongst his fans.

A dear friend gave me a book with the above poem inscribed in the front cover days before she died. It will forever be a favorite.

For more on the life of Rumi, visit this past post by our good friend, Sherry Blue Sky; or check out this Wikipedia entry.

If you are interested in reading more Rumi, consider The Essential Rumi, translated by Coleman Banks.

Poet History # 6 - Rumi and Hafiz

Written by Sherry Blue Sky

RUMI AND HAFIZ – beloved Persian poets

Separated by a hundred years, in the 13th and 14th centuries, Rumi and Hafiz were Persian ecstatic Sufi mystic poets, whose work celebrated and encouraged union with the Divine.

Rumi (1207 to 1273) was born in the eastern-most province of Persia, but his family fled west during the Mongol invasion, and he lived most of his life in the Sultanate of Rum, in present-day Turkey.

Rumi’s works are available in many translations, notably by Coleman Barks, the foremost translator of Rumi’s works for thirty years. Coleman Barks, in speaking about the mystical and synchronistic things that happen in life, said “We can’t explain them. If we try, it’s like a bunch of fish schooling together to discuss the possibility of the ocean. Rumi lives in that ocean.” Of Rumi’s poems, Barks says, “This is just sheet music for your wild true nature. You’ve got to sing the song.”