Hafez Poetry

Course Description

 

Enter into the mystical poetry of Hafez, one of the greatest poets of the soul.

This course invites you to an immersion that stirs the depths, awakens love, and loosens the cage of the small ego world.

Your guide, Arash Golnam, was born in Iran where Hafez is woven into life itself. Later, he became a Jungian Analyst. Arash brings both a cultural rootedness and psychological depth, opening the inner cosmos of Hafez and his poetic vision.

To truly meet Hafez requires more than translation. It asks for immersion. In this course, we move beyond English renderings by engaging his original Persian verses and weaving them with insights from Depth Psychology.

Much of Hafez’s power lies in what vanishes in translation—his musicality, layered symbols, and subtle metaphors. Here, we restore some of that depth and resonance.

Each class centers on one of Hafez’s living symbols: the Night Sea journey, the Beloved, the mask we wear, and the art of traveling through life. Together, we explore their cultural, mystical, and psychological dimensions.

Hafez is not only to be read. He is to be felt. Let him open the door of your soul.

This course is ideal if:

• You feel drawn to poetry that opens the heart, awakens love, and stirs the depths of the soul.
• You long to explore Hafez not only through translation, but through immersion in his original Persian verses and Jungian insight.
• You want to experience how mystical poetry can be a companion in individuation, self-realization, and the encounter with the divine.
• You sense that Hafez is not only to be read but to be felt—and you are ready to let his poetry become a living presence in your life.

Course Overview

Class 1: Himmah – The Callings from the Self

Upon the walls of Hafez’s shrine it is written:

As you pass by my tomb,
call forth “Himmah.”

Himmah 
is a divine dynamism,  
yearning to manifest,  
to fulfill its destiny
through us.

To seek Himmah
is to surrender,
to become a vessel of the sacred,
to remember the purpose entrusted to us
before we first set foot upon this earthly realm.

In this opening session, we enter Hafez’s verses to explore Himmah as a guiding force propelling the soul’s journey of transformation.

Class 2: Rend – From Persona to Personhood

Hafez calls himself a Rend.

A Rend lays down the mask of persona
to live from the truth of the personhood
following the hidden thread of authenticity.

Rends belong to the fellowship
of those without a tribe—
a dwelling where truth
and freedom meet.

He adds:

Hafez leaves
the Khanqah
for the Tavern,
to awaken from,
the intoxication of
piety and hypocrisy.
The monastery’s “divine”,
nurtured within me
a deep devotion to the Wine.

In this session, we listen to Hafez’s verses on being a Rend, discovering what it means to live as a Rend, and how this path speaks to the journey of individuation.

Class 3: The Night Sea Journey – Holding the Tension of the Opposites

In his poems 
Hafez allows us to accompany him 
on his night sea journeys. 

When darkness descends,
the sea roars,
fear rises,
and chaos unfolds.

Behind lies the safety of the shore,
ahead stretches the vastness of the unknown:

The dark of the night
the fear of the waves,
and a terrifying whirlpool,
the light-hearted on the shore
how could they know our plight?

In this session, we enter Hafez’s verses of darkness, fear, and disorientation, and discover how such passages can open into thresholds of renewal and transformation.

Class 4: The Saqi – The Immortal Within the Mortal

The Opening verse of Hafez’s book of poems:

O Saqi! Pour a Cup and pass it around,
for Love seemed easy at first,
yet later, many hardships befell. 

Hafez summons the Saqi 
the cupbearer
calling for Wine –
the remedy
for the unforeseen trials
that rise along 
the winding path of
Love.

In this session, we encounter the figure of the cupbearer and the gift of Wine, which stand at the heart of Hafez’s poetry.

Class 5: Love – The Force Behind All Creation

For Hafez, 
Love is the sacred fire 
at the heart of existence. 

Older than creation, 
greater than reason, 
Love dissolves every boundary 
and draws the soul 
toward union with the divine:

Before eternity’s dawn,
your imminent ray,
aglow with endless beauty,
destined to manifest.

Thus, Love was born,
setting the universe ablaze,
igniting creation,
setting life in motion.

Intellect sought
to grasp that flame,
to light its own lamp.
Yet Love’s lightning struck,
turning the world
upside down.

In this final session, we turn to Love—not as a mere human emotion, but as the divine force that birthed all creation.