Hafez
A friend of mine, Anna Sullivan from the UK, is a very talented artist and has sent me some illustrations she has been working on which accompany (amongst other things) some of the sayings of the Persian poet Hafez.
I thought I’d post a couple of my favourites alongside some of my favourites from Hafez:
Without the beloved’s face, the rose is not pleasant.
Without wine, spring is not pleasant.The border of the sward and the air of the garden
Without the tulip cheek is not pleasant.The dancing of the cypress, and the rapture of the rose,
Without the one thousand songs is not pleasant.With the beloved, sugar of lip, rose of body,
Without kiss and embrace is not pleasant.Every picture that reasons’s hand depicteth,
Save the picture of the idol is not pleasant.Hafez! the soul is a despicable coin:
For scattering, it is not pleasant.
And my long-time favourite:
If that Shirazi Turkish maid
would take my heart in her hand,
I’d give Bukhara for the mole on her cheek....
...or Samarkand.
