hafiz shirazi

8/9/2019 Hafiz Shirazi

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Compiled by: Afzaal Mahmood and Abd al-Majid Khatam Sharif Date: 02/12/2010 Page: 2 of 14

Khwaja Hafiz has been bestowed with many titles such as Lisan ul Ghayb, tongue of theUnseen or Tarjuman al asrar, the interpreter of secrets. These titles and more are in facttelling us that his poetry are not the words of an ordinary man; for his each couplet containswithin it, immense spirituality, inspiration and guidance. He portrayed that which existedbeyond the ordinary world by giving parallels contained in this world, and in doing soaccomplished the feat of expressing, the otherwise inexpressible. That he was capable to doso, was due to his connection with the Holy Quran, as Imam e Rabbani states, It is onlythrough having a link with the Holy Quran that the highest stages in Sufism are attained and

perfection achieved .

Khwaja Hafizs father, Shaykh Bahuddin was originally from Isfahan and due tobusiness, migrated to Shiraz, in Iran. Khwaja Hafiz was born in Shiraz in the early part ofthe fourteenth century. His full name is Shams Uddin Muhammad , and is otherwise morecommonly known by his poetic name Hafiz or Hafiz e Shirazi . Whilst still a child, Shaykh

Bahuddin passed away leaving his family with much debt. With his two brothers, thefamily struggled to make ends meet and so during this difficult period, still merely a youngboy, Khwaja Hafiz worked in various jobs to support his family, including working at abakery shop, as a delivery boy.

Khwaja Hafiz grew up in the city of Shiraz, the once epicentre of learning, with not onlygreat madarsas , khanaqas and over a thousand shrines, but also notable Awliya , poets andscholars such as Shaykh Abdullah ibn e Khafif , Shaykh Sadi , and Khawjo-e-Kirmani , whom had all resided in this blessed place. The Holy Quran also had a strong connectionwith the city of Shiraz, with the Moroccan traveller Ibn e Battuta stating that through the

many Islamic lands he had travelled, it was in Shiraz that he had heard the most beautifulrecitations.

To be a Hafiz of the Holy Quran is considered a great blessing and Allah Almighty choosespeople to be given this honour; Allah Almighty says, We made those people heirs of thisBook, those whom We chose from among Our servants . (Holy Quran: Surah Fatir , Verse 32)

Love for the Holy Quran and Poetry

The best of you are those who learn the Holy Quran and teach it. (Hadith Sharif)

Despite the struggles of family life and having to work at such a tender age, Khwaja Hafizspent his time studying at the madarsa, and so memorised the Holy Quran . He also becamea qualified scholar, and skilled in the art of calligraphy. His passion with the Holy Quran isreflected in him being a master of the fourteen different qirats , different styles of recitation.

Having memorised the Holy Quran , Khwaja Hafiz became a mudarris teaching studentsat the madarsa . He would dedicate his life to teaching the Holy Quran , as described byMuhammad Gul Andam , the best friend and student of Khwaja Hafiz who spent muchtime with him. Muhammad Gul Andam states, Khwaja Hafi zs passion was the HolyQuran , so much so that whenever he went to meet with him, he would find Khwaja Hafiz


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either reciting, teaching or commenting on tafsir . This association with the Holy Quran occupied most of Khwaja Hafi zs time and was everlasting throughout his life.

To rise at dawn and seek whats sound And wholesome as Hafiz has done

All Ive done has come from the grace And embras de richesse of the Quran

Khwaja Hafiz also had immense love for the poets who were his predecessors, andmemorised thousands of poems including the works of Shaykh Farid Uddin Attar , UmarKhayyam , Hakim Sinai , Mawlana Jalal Uddin Rumi and Fakhruddin Iraqi . KhwajaHafiz was also an ashiq of Shaykh Sadi , and enjoyed reading and memorising hiswork, Gulistan . Khwaja Hafiz says,

All agree that Sadi is the master of ghazal But Hafiz follo ws Khwajus genre for style

Khwaja Hafiz mentions that he has based his style of poetry on that of Khawjo-e-Kirmani, his contemporary, with whom he had a strong friendship. Khawjo-e-Kirmani was a

great poet and was a murid of the great Kubrawi master, Shaykh Ala Dawlah Simnani ; hecomposed a very beautiful Divan , from which Khwaja Hafiz took great benefit. KhwajaHafiz not only learnt poetry from Khawjo-e-Kirmani , he also benefited from his advice.

Muhammad Gul Andam admired Khwaja Hafiz s poetry and would often request KhwajaHafiz to compile his poems, saying Gather together all those rare gems and assemble all

these lustrous pearls on one string, so they may become a necklace . Seeing that KhwajaHafiz was constantly busy teaching and giving dars and never considered his poetry to beworth anything, Muhammad Gul Andam took it upon himself to sought out and collectKhwaja Hafi zs poems, and eventually went on to publish the very first volume of what isnow referred to as Divan e Hafi z .

It is said that one of the outstanding features of Khwaja Hafi zs kalam is that his thoughtsare the thoughts of a free person. In terms of aqidah he was a traditional Sunni scholar andfollowed the shafi madhab , but he was not slave to these things. If he saw something wronghe would speak against it, whether it was amongst the Shia or ahle sunnah , he was not a

slave of any group. Khwaja Hafiz is of that category, which are free to speak their mind,because they are ahle haq , speakers of the truth.

Being a speaker of truth, Khwaja Hafiz never compromised on what he would say, and sohe was granted honour by Allah Almighty and bestowed the title, Lisan ul Ghayb, tongue ofthe Unseen. Sayyiduna Ali mentions, A person is hidden behind the tongue, so thetongue can grant a person honour by what it utters as we see with the example of KhwajaHafiz . However, on the other hand, what a person mentions with the tongue can backfireand become a source of embarrassment, causing ruin in this life and in the hereafter.

"Indeed, a man will speak with words that are pleasing to Allah and by which he is notaware of what he has attained by it. Due to it, Allah will record for him His Contentment(for him) until the day that he encounters Him. And indeed, a man will speak with words


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that are displeasing to Allah by which he is not aware of what he has attained by it. Dueto it, Allah will record for him His Discontentment (with him) until the day that heencounters Him ."

(Hadith Sharif)

Hifz ul Lisan (Guarding the Tongue)

Not a word does one utter, except that there is an (angel) watching, ready to record it .(Holy Quran: Surah Qaf , Verse 18)

Since each and every word spoken by us is recorded and presented before Allah Almighty,our speech must be chosen carefully, as we will all be answerable for what we say. In hisgreat book Al-Adhkaar , Imam Nawawi dedicates a chapter to Hifz ul Lisan , in which hestates, Every individual who falls under the category of being responsible for his actions,mukallaf , will be held accountable for all types of speech and so must guard the tongue .The saliheen always guard their tongue as they are constantly aware, that if what they uttercannot escape an angel, how could it ever escape Allah Almighty, who is always watching.

Mawlana Jalal Uddin Rumi explains the tongue can lead to a person achieving salvation,or on the other hand lead to his destruction. Mawlana narrates, One day Hadrat LuqmanHakim was asked by his master to bring him a dish which was the best he had evertasted. Hadrat Luqman prepared a dish for his master, which consisted of the tongue andthe heart. Having tasted the dish, the master said to Hadrat Luqman , Now bring me themost distasteful thing you have ever tasted.

Hadrat Luqman returned with the same dish, which had consisted of the tongue and theheart. Looking at the dish perplexed the master; he said to Hadrat Luqman , I do notunderstand? This is the same dish as before, Hadrat Luqman said, Master , if this tonguefunctions properly, it is one of the greatest things. If this heart functions properly, it is one ofthe greatest things. However, if they were not to function properly, then no doubt, theybecome the worse things in creation.

Humans are a combination of organs and within us, the tongue and the heart are the twoorgans that if not given consideration, are the biggest sources of evil. Hadrat Yahya binMuadh explains how these two organs are interlinked by illustrating the image that, Theheart is like a cooking pot and the tongue is like a spoon .

The taste of what is on the spoon is from what is contained in the cooking pot. Similarly whatwill come on the tongue will be a reflection of what is contained inside the heart. If the heartis corrupt, it will cause the tongue to utter words of corruption, whereas if the heart is pure,the words spoken will be full of wisdom. The words we utter are of great importance and canbe a source of salvation or take us to hellfire. The Arabic proverb, The tongue may be

physically small, but leads to major sins, highlights it is necessary to give a great deal ofconsideration to this tiny piece of flesh, before it slips.

The tongue is one of Allahs greatest blessings to mankind as it is what makes us distinct in

comparison to all other animals. We are able to speak, whereas all other animals do nothave speech. Khwaja Gharib Nawaz describes the tongue as One of the greatest gifts of


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Allah Almighty , as it allows us to do virtuous deeds such as praising Him, reading the HolyQuran , do dhikr and repent to Him.

Imam Ghazali states in reference to the tongue, It is a subtle but very strange creation asit can taste sin or taste obedience .

A simple example to explain this subtleness is the use of the tongue by a person to recite theShahadah and become a Muslim, yet on the other hand, the tongue is used by others toutter disbelief.

Methods to Control the Tongue

If left uncontrolled, the tongue is like a savage beast which has been let loose and is readyto cause harm. The pious people use their teeth as a prison cage, to keep the tongue insideand so guard their tongue. They are aware of the importance that this tiny piece of flesh

holds. Hadrat Qas ibn e Sadah and Hadrat Akhtam ibn e Safi once met, and one said tothe other, How many defects were you able to find in the sons of Adam? The otherresponded, They are too numerous to count but th e defects I can account for number eightthousand. I also discovered one thing that if I was to put into practice, then all these defectswould be hidden.

He was asked what is it and he said, Hifz ul Lisan guarding the tongue.

Therefore, it is necessary to be vigilant and fearful when using our tongue and not tounderestimate the devastation it can cause. Without guarding the tongue, it will constantly

slip and cause us to commit sins by actions such as hypocrisy, backbiting, pride, displaying jealousy and envy.

The Awliya (Friends of Allah) are very strict and do not allow people to back-bite aboutothers in their gatherings. Neither do they highlight the faults of individuals by names, evenwhen correcting people as they follow the methods used by Rasulullah who wouldhighlight the fault, but not name and shame people, as this would have causedembarrassment. Khwaja Hafiz condemns fault finding in others,

I said to the master of the tavern,

Which road is the road of salvation?

He lifted his wine and said,Not revealing the faults of other people.

Another method to guard the tongue is to practice silence, as explained by Imam Ghazali ,who states, Know that the dangers of the tongue are great and there is no escape from it,except to keep quiet. For this reason Rasulullah said , He who remains quiet will besuccessful, he will be saved .

However, along with refraining from backbiting, speaking the truth, and observing silence,since the heart and tongue are connected, it is necessary the inner state is in control, toensure a person is controlling the tongue.


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The Awliya are known as Ibn al waqt , the sons of time, as they are the people who do notwaste a moment. They realise the importance of controlling the tongue as they are aware ofthe harm, this little piece of flesh does and so they practice seclusion. Khwaja Baqi Billahwould speak very little and when people would ask him for advice, he would say, If youcannot benefit from my silence, you cannot benefit from my words .

Khwaja Hafi zs method for controlling the tongue lay not just in avoiding sins with thetongue, or practicing silence and solitude, but also in the remembrance of Allah Almighty.Rasulullah said, Do not talk much without remembering Allah. For indeed too much talkwithout the remembrance of Allah, hardens the heart .

Like many great masters, Khwaja Hafiz paid a lot of attention to the Tahajjud time; hementions, To make dua in the morning and to ask forgiveness at night is the door tosuccess .

This was as he was aware that if he kept busy during the night in the remembrance of Allah Almighty and at dawn repent to Him, his tongue would have been kept busy in pious deeds,rather than being involved in futile talk and committing sins. Tahajjud is a spiritual time ofsolitude, where a person can cut off from the world and connect to Allah Almighty. KhwajaHafiz regarded this as a beautiful time, as emphasised in the Divan e Hafiz, where nearlyone fifth of the poems talk about the early dawn. Khwaja Hafiz would pray at night andcompose his poems, and in the morning he would ask Allah Almighty for forgiveness.

All the honey that drips from my tongue,Was my beautys reward for suffering so long.

Hafi zs ambition and pious prayers of the mor n,Relieved me from sorrow, enmity and scorn .

The effect of guarding the tongue on Khwaja Hafiz was such that during the night, hereceived such enigmatic inspirations that secrets would become contained within his poemsand as a consequence, he would be known throughout the world as Lisan ul Ghayb,

The Oracle

The honour Allah Almighty has given to Khwaja Hafizs Divan is shown in that just like theHoly Quran is kept in ever house, similarly in Iran the Divan of Khwaja Hafiz is also kept.Many people memorise verses and it is common practice for those who are aware of themysteries of Divan e Hafiz, to use it as an oracle and do fal (gain indication). In allcivilisations, the practice of doing fal as an omen has existed. Fal is done when a personneeds to ask something, one example is to do istakhara; a person asks and Allah Almightygives an indication to that person. When the Safavid sultan Shah Abbas wanted to attackTabrez in Iran, he did fal of Divan e Hafiz , asking whether his expedition would besuccessful. The verse replied, It s now your turn for Baghdad and Tabrez , and so Shah

Abbas assumed he would indeed be successful, which was the case.


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fortieth day of his seclusion and so ran to Baba Kuhis shrine. Having completed theprescribed time he was guided to what he needed, a living Master.

Shaykh Mahmud Zayn Attar was a malang wali who had a small place in the bazaar where he would sell vegetables. He kept his distance from people, and many people were

unaware of his spiritual rank. Khwaja Hafiz was attracted to Shaykh Mahmud as henoticed that his Master kept a low profile, remaining hidden. It is said that a murid is areflection of his master and so, Khwaja Hafiz also adopted this ihkfa e haal method.

According to another riwayat , Hadrat Shah e Naqshband is his master. When HadratShah e Naqshband was going for Hajj , he visited Shiraz and Khwaja Hafiz took bayat from him. As Khwaja Hafiz did not ever meet with Hadrat Shah e Naqshband again, helived the rest of his life burning in his masters absence; hence, his poetry reflects the desirefor his Shaykh.

Using his poetry, in recent times one person asked a question to Khwaja Hafiz , Who wasyour Shaykh? He replied in the form of a couplet, Quran ni kasam hai, dont ask me that. It is evident that even up to now, he does not want anyone to know as it is such a deepmatter, and there is a limit to our understanding.

Khwaja Hafiz was also an admirer and ashiq of Shaykh Muhyi al-Din ibn al Arabi , andso has a similar message in his kalam . Khwaja Hafiz says, Wherever I look, I see theBeloved .

This is the state of Tawhid , where a person sees the One in everything. To attain this

station, we must go against our ego, under the guidance of a wali (master). Hifz ul lisan alsoplays a big development in subduing the ego, ensuring the heart becomes pure. Those whoare successful begin to stop seeing themselves and begin to see Gods Beauty manifestedin everything. These flash es of Gods Beauty can only become more apparent under theguidance of a master.

Khwaja Hafiz states, The pen does not have the ability to open the secrets of love.

To be granted true honour in this world and in the hereafter, it is necessary to gain the nazar (glance) of the Saki (cup bearer). Khwaja Hafez uses the word Saki is reference to thespiritual master who will prepare his murid for his meeting with his Beloved.

The Saki (Cup-bearer)

If we were to comprehend the honour that has been bestowed upon us, we would not lift ourheads from prostration. The value we have in our Lords sight, our worth in the universe, hasnot been granted upon any other form of creation. In the Holy Quran, Allah Almighty says inreference to Sayyiduna Adam , And blow into him from My spirit , ( Surah Al-Hijr Verse29), so breath is the source of creation. If we were to honour this trust bestowed upon us, wewould then excel from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high, and after greatstruggle against our lower self, we would rise to the station of vicegerent of God, seeingGods beauty apparent in everything.


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wine, become a channel reflecting Allahs grace, beauty and love onto his fellow creation.The fourth bayt of this Ghazal is often used to describe the relationship between a masterand murid (disciple). The murid must have complete trust in his master and offer years ofsincere khidmat (service) not for any other reason but for the pleasure of his master. Themaster will transform him from a rock into a gem and so, he will be able to drink this wine.

When Sayyiduna Musa heard a voice from the burning bush say, Without doubt I amGod, your Lord , he did not worship the tree but realised that God is using this tree to speakto him. Likewise when the man of Allah speaks, the speech is from Allah, although it iscoming from the throat of a human being. This man of Allah has special breath and transmitspower and spirituality through that breath, as Gods Beauty is manifested within him.

The worlds captured by your beauty and grace, With unity you capture the world and space.

The candle, divulging secrets of the friend,Was build by the tongue and its life came to end.

Of the hidden fire of love inside my chest,The glowing sun is the simile best.

The rose desiring to imitate her colour and scent,Was reproached by zephyr and forced to repent

.

Sakis image reflected in the cup by fire, Justified me, the wine cup to admire.

Drink, for those who know what comes up,Lighted from sorrow, by taking heavy cup.


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With animal blood is written on the rose, Only men o f experience purple wine chose.

Hafiz since grace drips from your pen,How can the jealous, find fault with you then.

Khwaja Hafiz describes the wine that the Saki pours is so powerful that the person whodrinks the wine becomes drunk afterwards, never to be sober again. And so, this gives usan indication of the level of intoxication of the Saki himself, as we contemplate how

intoxicated he must be, when he was pouring that wine into the bottle. The wine the Saki isintoxicated on is none other than the wine of Divine Love, and as a result the Sakis verybreath and sight becomes a manifestation of Allahs love. This is reflected in the Sakisintoxicated eyes and if in this state a mere glance falls upon a person, then that personexperiences a measure of that Divine Love. Indeed what would have taken the murid alifetime to accomplish is attained by a mere glance from the Saki .

The Power of His Poetry

The Khawajgan masters say, There is no Divan better then Divan e Hafez for a Sufi toread .

It is recommend a person reads the works of pious people, as they are full of wisdom andwill enlighten us. Khwaja Hafi zs kalam is held in such high esteem as it has an impact ona person, similar to the way in which physically meeting a pious person would have. Hiskalam holds universal appeal; in his lifetime, it reached beyond Iran and today it is spreadaround the world. It is a kalam which appeals to many people in his homeland, wheredespite the attempts of the government to repress spirituality, the people still love to readand recite poems of Khwaja Hafiz , and annually celebrate a day in his honour. Even thosewho do not understand Farsi , feel a connection to his poetry as it contains a passion withinit, such that it seems as if someone is directly addressing the soul.

Hadrat Sahib mentions as a young boy he would sleep on the same bed as his father,Qibla Alam and during the night, Qibla Alam would wake up and read the poetry of PirNeyk Alam Shah , which was very sad poetry. The purpose of reading such poetry is not todemoralise one self; on the contrary it is so that the pain stirs feelings within the heart ofregret. This clears the mind and helps in muraqabah (meditation).

Khwaja Hafi zs kalam is very poignant in that it expresses a pain of eternity, as its purposeis to be heart rendering. For the Awliya , their Beloved is Allah Almighty and so, once aperson is in love with anything, that person knows the value of separation.


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Mian Sahib relates, Khwaja Hafiz was one day walking in the garden, and saw abulbul. Khwaja Hafiz asked the bulbul, Why is the lament you make, so full of the pain?The bulbul said, I cry due to my separation from my beloved, therefore my voice is full of

pain and anguish.

Khwaja Hafiz left and upon his return, noticed the bulbul was now perched on a branchwith its beloved. However, still the bulbul cried. Khwaja Haf iz enquired, You are withyoure beloved; why do you cry now?

The bulbul replied, Now I cry more because of the fear, that one day I will be separated frommy beloved .

It is not uncommon to misunderstand the poetry of Khwaja Hafiz , as was the case with Allama Iqbal who was at first very critical about Khwaja Hafi z s poetry. However, thispoetry would have such an influence on Allama Iqbal that he himself would eventually

compose poems using the bulbul and saki as motifs and also wrote a poem called Zahid orindi . In his works, Khwaja Hafiz would often describe himself as rind.

Of all beauties capturing hearts dont expect, All mirrors like Alexanders the world wont reflect.

All who wear costly hats with pride in town; Are not worthy to get kingdom and crown.

Like beggars dont worship for reward, A friend knows how his servants to regard.

I love libertines who put life at stake,With no winners elixir of life can make.

Its good but hard to be loyal, my lad,

Its much easier to be wicked and bad.


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Will be pilgrims to my tomb.

Khwaja Hafizs legacy is unrivalled to this day as he has not died with history and iscalled lisan ul Ghayb (tongue of the Hidden) and tarjuman al Israr (interpreter of secrets) ashe is still speaking to people today, through his poetry. This rare trait of the Divan e Hafiz ,

each verse being immersed in hidden secrets and providing answers for those who enquire;became apparent to all, following the incident that occurred after the death of Khwaja Hafiz

himself.

After his death, there was a big commotion causing a dispute between people over whetherthere should be a Muslim burial for Khwaja Hafiz . Some clerics questioned the piety ofKhwaja Hafiz as they had attached a literal meaning to his poetry. They made thepresumption that Khwaja Hafiz must have indeed drunk wine to be able to write aboutsuch things. However, many people in Shiraz knew that Khwaja Hafiz had taught in themadarsa all his life, was a Hafiz e Quran and were also aware that his poetry contained

metaphors and disputed this view of questioning the piety of Khwaja Hafiz .

Eventually, it was agreed upon to open the Divan e Hafiz and to do fal from the words ofKhwaja Hafiz himself. The fal was done and the following question was asked, Is KhwajaHafiz a pious person, or not ? The couplet that gave the answer was verse 7 from Ghazal79 of Divan e Hafiz ;

Follow Hafizs corpse to the grave with pain, For though sinful, paradise he will acquire.

l Fatiha

hafiz shirazi

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