Poems from the Divan of Hafiz

by active 14th century Hafiz

Stanza 4.—It was this verse which decided the right of Hafiz to receive honourable burial.

VIII

Stanza 3.—When God had created man and made him wiser than the angels, he bound him to himself by a solemn treaty. “Am I not thy Lord who has created thee?” he demanded, and man answered “Yes.” But the Arabic word bala, which signifies assent, means also sorrow, and they say that the first of our fathers knew full well what a terrible gift was that life which he had received from his Lord, and sealed the treaty with a seal of grief. Therefore since the earliest day, life and sorrow have gone hand in hand, bound together by the first great pact between God and man.

Stanza 4.—Compare François Villon’s rough and powerful treatment of the same theme:—

“Où sont de Vienne et de Grenobles

Le Dauphin, les preux, les senés?

Où de Dijon, Sallin et Dolles,

Les sires et les fils aînés?

Où autant de leurs gens privés,

Hérauts, trompettes, poursuivants?