From: ltlee1@hotmail.com   
      
   "Within the pantheon of Persian poets, perhaps none is as cherished and   
   revered as Hafez, and with good reason. Reading the poetry of Hafez   
   induces fragmented moments where one oscillates between body and soul;   
   indeed, Wheeler Thackston writes that Hafez “sang a rare blend of human   
   and mystic love so balanced, proportioned, and contrived with artful   
   ease that it is impossible to separate the one from the other”. Within   
   his poetic lines are levels and layers, each unfolding simultaneously   
   upon the page and within the reader. Ethics, aesthetics and philosophy   
   are all intertwined, and all possible meanings simmer simultaneously   
   beneath the surface.   
      
   ..I present below an analysis of a verse to demonstrate the   
   multi-layered and rich understanding of Hafez, with the hope that it   
   will also inspire introspection, wherever stage you may be at in life,   
   as it has for Persian readers for generations upon generations.   
      
   In Shiraz I am famous for my love’s lively ways   
      
   My eyes have not been polluted with an evil gaze   
      
   On first reading, the meaning of the verse – in the original Persian –   
   is apparent. Hafez is famous – or infamous – in Shiraz for his exuberant   
   love and does not attune his eyes to see the faults of others. This is   
   an admirable trait, particularly prominent within Malamati Sufism, that   
   one should busy oneself with one’s own faults instead of the perceived   
   faults of others. The key principles of the Malamati worldview include   
   exuberant love; being open with one’s beliefs; concealing the faults of   
   others; persevering through sneers and censures of others; and a   
   perpetual struggle against self-centredness.   
      
   The second level takes a step further. The evil gaze can also be   
   interpreted as one infused with desire; not desire in and of itself, but   
   a base desire motivated by deceit and duplicity that festers within the   
   lower parts of the human soul and incites one to evil. Hafez informs us   
   that he does not gaze upon others with such a fraudulent eye, instead   
   opting to look upon others with genuine care and compassion.   
      
   But beyond these levels is something else; a perspective that offers a   
   radical rethinking of how we view the relationship between God and   
   creation. In the first line, when Hafez says that he is renowned in   
   Shiraz for his audacious expressions of love, he is speaking to the idea   
   that love is not something that can remain concealed. A lover may be   
   able to conceal their love for a brief period of time, but if it is a   
   true love, it will eventually burst forth; every glowing glance and   
   minor motion will sing songs of their love. In this respect the lover   
   mirrors God, as not even God could conceal his love, weaving it   
   seamlessly into the tapestry of the cosmos.   
      
   The second line explains the result of this manifest love. The lover   
   does not pollute their eye with seeing bad because a lover only sees   
   beauty in existence. A gaze that is infused with love, purity and   
   sincerity is incapable of seeing any evil in the world. The world’s   
   beauty comes to the fore in all that they see, radiating from the   
   mundane. The hidden hand of God becomes visible, the artist and artwork   
   become one, and the Qur’anic verse “And God’s is the east and the west:   
   and wherever you turn, there is God’s countenance” manifests before   
   one’s eyes."   
      
   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/23/persian-po   
   tic-tradition-hafez   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)