Halqa Meeting of June 30, 2013

Abdul Hayy Khilwati: As we enter the sacred month of Ramadan, let us take the opportunity to renew our commitment to spiritual practice. In doing so, let us consider the words of Hafez of Shiraz:

Covertly last night, a sharp-witted sage said to me,

"The vintner's secret should not be kept from you."

He said, "Take it easy with things, for by its nature

the world goes hard on those who try too hard."

Then he offered a wine-cup whose radiance in the heavens

made Venus dance and shout 'drink!' while strumming a lute.

Heart flushed with blood, keep your lip smiling like the cup;

Don't, if you're struck, wail like a harp harshly struck.

Until truly acquainted, you'll not hear the veiled mystery;

The ear that's not intimate cannot host the angel's message.

O youth, take heed--don't grieve on the world's account;

I've spoken a pearl-like phrase if you could just hear it.

In love's sanctuary one cannot breathe idle words,

for all the body's limbs must there be eyes or ears.

The showcase of the masters of subtlety isn't for self-display;

Either speak knowingly and sagely, wise sir, or be quiet.

O Saqi, serve wine because lucky-starred Asaf, the forgiver of sins

and concealer of faults, has understood Hafez's wild behavior.

Abdul Hayy: Several people ask about what Hafez means in the verse: He said, 'Take it easy with things, for by its nature the world goes hard on those who try too hard.' Quite a few of Hafez's poems stress the importance of selfless effort. Most effort is selfish with the result that people do not achieve their spiritual aim to become intimate with God.

Rumi helps us to understand this concern with many of his statements in the Masnawi. For example, (Book VI, verse 3839):

The help of God is better than a hundred kinds of striving;

In our striving there's fear of a hundred kinds of mischief.

At near the very end of the Masnawi, he tells us (Book VI, verses 4886 through 4888):

From the Two Worlds, the Sufis are the laziest

because they harvest without having ploughed.

They have made of laziness a firm support

since it is God who is doing their work.

Ordinary folk, unobservant of God's work,

find no rest from toiling morning until night.