By Sumit Paul

What happened in Iran is ironic when you look at rich history of the country and its liberalism. In olden days, it sheltered great Sufis and mystics and let them thrive. Once Iran was muattar , fragrant, with the universal love poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Fariduddin Attar, Sanai, Khaqani, Nizami, Jami, Anvari, among others. When Rumi says love asks us to enjoy our life, one wonders – how people of Iran and wherever wars and battles are on are enjoying life – as mere survival is becoming an existential issue for all of us. Look at the sublimity of Rumi’s love poem:

“Love asks us to enjoy our life
For nothing good can come from death.
Who is alive? I ask.
Those who are born of love.
Seek us in love itself,
Seek love in us ourselves.
Sometimes i venerate love,
Sometimes it venerates me.”

Elsewhere Rumi writes, “Should your friend dismiss you, Do not be disheartened: Today he rejects you, Tomorrow he’ll relent.”

“Do not kill even an ant/Life is sacred, you tyrant.” Rumi further says, “You hurt someone thousands of miles away, i feel his pain in my own way.”

Hafiz Shirazi says the same thing, in his own inimitable manner, “This sky/Where we live/Is no place to lose your wings/So love, love, Love.” Hafiz told the tormentors and tormented: “Light will someday split you open; even if your life is now a cage.”

Centuries ago, Hafiz wrote to the tyrant ruler of Persia: “Do not judge us, you who boast your purity/No one will indict you for the faults of others/What is it to you whether i am virtuous or a sinner? Busy yourself with yourself!”

Love will finally triumph over hatred and violence, wrote Hafiz and in today’s context and circumstances, this proverbial and prophetic statement is not just confined to Iran but wherever humanity is in danger and soaked in blood and gore. It’s time to read Hafiz Shirazi and Rumi’s love poetry that’s not just limited to physical love but has been sublimated into universal love. Rumi and Hafiz are for all ages and eras. Their poetry is a balm for the suppressed and oppressed and celestial wine, metaphorically, for beleaguered humans. Rumi wrote in Pahlavi, “Tazqeen min ishq az insaniyat” –my love is for mankind.

To read Hafiz, Rumi, Khaqani, Nizami or Anvari’s mystic love poetry is to create an antidote to all that’s violent and ruthless. More than ever does the world need their message of cosmic love to bring about a skerrick of sanity to the war-ravaged world. To read Hafiz and Rumi is a humanising process, and we all must go through it to empathise with each soul. There’ll be no bloodshed, if we imbibe the spirit of mystic love of Rumi and Hafiz. It’s time to bid farewell to violence and welcome love everywhere. Rejoice in the power of love and celebrate its myriad moods. Remember, in the end, it’s love that will come to our rescue.

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