{"id":8672,"date":"2026-02-06T09:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8672"},"modified":"2026-02-06T09:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:49:08","slug":"hafiz-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/06\/hafiz-the-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Hafiz – The Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Garden
\nby Hafiz<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Rober Bly<\/font><\/p>\n

The garden is breathing out the air of Paradise today,
\nToward me, a friend with a sweet nature, and this wine.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all right for the beggar to brag that he is a King today.
\nHis royal tent is a shadow thrown by a cloud; his throne room is a sown field.<\/p>\n

This meadow is composing a tale of a spring day in May;
\nThe serious man lets the future go and accepts the cash now.<\/p>\n

Do you really believe your enemy will be faithful to you?
\nThe candle the hermit lights goes out in the worldly church.<\/p>\n

Make your soul strong then by feeding it the secret wine.
\nWhen we have turned to dust, this rotten world will press our dust into bricks.<\/p>\n

My life is a black book. But don\u2019t rebuke me too much.
\nNo person can ever read the words written on his own forehead.<\/p>\n

When Hafez\u2019s coffin comes by, it\u2019ll be all right to follow behind.
\nAlthough he is a captive of sin, he is on his way to the Garden.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Soul is Here for its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures<\/a>, Edited by Robert Bly<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Kylo<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

How about something with a breath of spring today?<\/p>\n

I know it\u2019s easy to get swept up in the world\u2019s dramas and suffering. And we should play a role in establishing a new sense of sanity and compassion. Most of us have a role on the world stage and we want that role to be that of healer, perhaps hero. But it is also important to remember that that role is what we do, not who we are. And we must remind ourselves that we take right action because it is right, not because it will necessarily win the day. So we do what we are called to do, we play our role, but the world goes its own way. Our well-being cannot be based on the world always showing us a smiling face.<\/p>\n

Does that sound bleak? That depends on what we imagine the world to be. Most of us think the world is all there is, that it is reality itself. Not so. When we speak of the world, we are talking about the shared mental landscape in society \u2014 the human consensus reality. It is not what is actually real, just what most people silently agree to as the boundaries of possibility. Even when the world feels dark or thin on hope, what is actually real is vast, filled with life and possibility and\u2026 dare I say it? \u2014 Joy.<\/p>\n

It is important for all of us, particularly at this time, to regularly step away from the world into the wider garden. We must breathe its air and replenish ourselves. We remind ourselves of what is really real and what is really possible beyond the false boundaries most people accept.<\/p>\n

The world is a shared fantasy, not always a pleasant one. But the garden is alive and all around us, always whispering to us even when we dream.<\/p>\n

The garden is breathing out the air of Paradise today\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Have a beautiful day!<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Hafiz<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Gift: Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nMusic of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish & Hebrew Poems<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nIslamic Mystical Poetry: Sufi Verse from the Early Mystics to Rumi<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nLove\u2019s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia, with Lectures by Inayat Khan<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n<\/td>\n\nHafiz<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Iran\/Persia (1320 \u2013 1389) Timeline<\/a>
\nMuslim \/ Sufi<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

If you are looking for versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Hafiz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Garden by Hafiz English version by Rober Bly The garden is breathing out the air of Paradise today, Toward me, a friend with a sweet nature, and this wine. It\u2019s all right for the beggar to brag that he is a King today. His royal tent is a shadow thrown by a cloud; his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1762,1024,46,47,1192,19,845,1444],"class_list":["post-8672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-consensus-reality","tag-garden","tag-hafez","tag-hafiz","tag-paradise","tag-sufi-poetry","tag-wine","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8672"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8673,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8672\/revisions\/8673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}