In These Two Expressions Lies Peace in This World and the Next..........Hafiz Shirazi
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
13 June
2022
“In these two expressions lies peace in this
world and the next/ With friends, Magnanimity; with enemies Tolerance."
-Hafiz Shirazi
Khwāje Shams-od-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī, known
by his pen name Hafez and as "Hafiz", was a Persian lyric poet. A
tentative portrait of Hafez Shirazi.
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Whenever I
read Deewan-e-Hafiz in my mother tongue Persian, this couplet makes me
cogitate very deeply. Hafiz used the pre-medieval Persian word Imafat
(beginning with the deep-sounding Ain letter of Arabic just like Irfaan
which also begins with Ain) for magnanimity (Vadanyta or Audarya in Sanskrit).
Imafat is the epitome of Faraakh-Dili or Sakhavat. Only through
unconditional and all-encompassing acceptance (Magnanimity), can we embrace our
friends and with Tolerance, we can win over our enemies.
At the
moment, mankind needs to imbibe the essence and spirit of Magnanimity and
Tolerance when the world has become a tinder-box and religion, a Pandora's Box
(though the original phrase is Pandora's jug). Magnanimity and Tolerance live
cheek-by-jowl. When you're Magnanimous, you're obviously Tolerant.
Humans need
to exercise Magnanimous Tolerance at this hour. But the way, the world is
behaving on a variety of issues, it seems almost all humans have failed to
internalize the import of Magnanimity and Tolerance. That grace of heart and
mind to forgive, forget and move on has become a rarity in these violent times.
Sheikh
Saadi beautifully put it: React not when someone says something unpleasant
about your faith and its revered figures; when a dog bites a man, does he also
bite the dog back? To react is to show your intolerance and the narrowness of
your mind. When you fail to show magnanimity and tolerance, you show the
pettiness of your character. When you hurl the choicest abuses and imprecations
at someone, don't you ever think that if the words you spoke appeared on your
skin, would you still be beautiful? Magnanimity and Tolerance also suggest that
you're a humble soul.
Once Maulana
Rumi was challenged by a highly learned but cantankerous Jew to debate with him
as to which religion, Judaism or Islam, is better. Maulana Rumi calmly said,
"When the essence of all faiths is the same, what's the need of a debate
regarding the superiority and inferiority of any faith? And that essence is
humanity which flows in all humans whether a monotheist, polytheist or even an
atheist. Iqbal said it so beautifully, "Haqeeqat Ek Hai Har Shai Ki
Khaaki Ho Ya Noori/Lahoo Khursheed Ka Tapke Agar Zarre Ka Dil Cheerein "
(The Truth of every creation is the same/The blood of sun oozes when you cut an
earthly particle's heart open). Lack of Magnanimity and Tolerance gives birth
to vindictiveness. It makes humans revengeful.
This
revengeful spirit is what we've been observing in today's world. Whether it's
religion, politics, social or general affairs, we're ever-ready to go for the
jugular. Urdu poet Rauf Laylapuri aptly said, 'Quwwat-e-Bardasht Ab Insaan
Mein Kahaan? /Ghussa Aaya Toh Arsh Pe Ja Pahuncha ' (Where's the capacity
for toleration? When anger emerges, it shoots up to the Seventh heaven). In
this age of religious pettiness, Magnanimity and Tolerance are the biggest
casualties. The blinkers of religion and politics have closed our eyes from
seeing the truth.
We've lost
Mansur Al-Hallaj's Minhaaz (Forgiving magnanimity, the original Arabic word
also means 'Path'/Righteous path, to be precise) when the people, who were
peeling Mansur's skin for his alleged blasphemy, suddenly felt a gush of
repentance and a sense of discomfort and shock, seeing the raw flesh of Mansur
and asked for his forgiveness. "When was I angry with you to forgive you
now? Hack me to pieces without the slightest sense of compunction,” feebly said
the great Persian mystic. This is the apogee of Forgiving Magnanimity and
absolutely unadulterated Tolerance. Even an ounce of it can save mankind. But,
are we ready even to have a drop of it?
Alas, we're
much more obsessed with the drops, nay a deluge, of blood and gore. Lastly, in
modern usage, the word “Tolerance” has come to signify mutual respect and
peaceful harmony between conflicting religions and ideologies.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/expressions-peace-world-hafiz-shirazi/d/127236
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