"Have no anxiety as to the future!"
AVATAR MEHER BABA. Painting by Charles Mills of Mills Studio.
In closing a tumultuous year of natural disasters and man-made tragedies, a couplet from from the 14th-century Persian mystic poet Hafiz (or Hafez) seems particularly apropos. Hafiz was Avatar Meher Baba's favorite poet, and Meher Baba often quoted Hafiz to His followers.
The couplet is taken from a letter written by Meher Baba on December 30, 1921, to Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsiff, a mandali (close disciple) member and childhood friend. The following was written in Persian at the top of the letter:
LETTER FROM AVATAR MEHER BABA to Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsiff on December 30, 2021. The Hafiz couplet in Persian is at the top of page one of the letter. The first line of the letter, Meher Baba writes, "Have no anxiety as to the future!" (Image: Courtesy Avatar Meher Baba Trust Archives)
Following the Hafiz couplet and salutation, Meher Baba (Merwan) writes to Dr. Ghani:
Meher Baba repeats at the end of the letter, "Have no anxiety."
MEHER BABA'S signature, "Merwan," is at the end of His letter to Dr. Abdul Ghani Munsiff on December 30, 1921. Meher Baba also repeats in the closing, "Have no anxiety." (Image: Courtesy Avatar Meher Baba Trust Archives)
Hafiz, according to Meher Baba, was a Perfect Master who lived about 700 years ago (1325-1389). "One who knows the Koran by heart is called a Hafiz, that one whose heart and soul is dedicated to the service and thoughts of God alone." [1]
Hafiz composed a ghazal [2] a day and sang it to his master, Attar, who would have someone write down the ghazal. Attar would give the ghazals to his other disciples to study and to benefit from, saying, "They will be important to future generations." The ghazals were preserved in the various Divans of Hafiz. [3]
In his lifetime, Hafiz became God-conscious. In describing Hafiz's poetry, Meher Baba said, "Half his ghazals he composed before Self-Realization, and the other half after he was realized by Attar. These ghazals are beautiful beyond words, quite unique and most wonderful. His earlier compositions depicted his great joy and bubbling enthusiasm." [4]
Foonotes
[1] Bhau Kalchuri, Lord Meher: The Biography of the Avatar of the Age Meher Baba, Online Edition, pg. 5308, accessed December 26, 2017. (c) Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust.
[2] Ghazal (Pronunciation: “guzzle”) Originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, medieval Persian poets embraced the ghazal, eventually making it their own. Consisting of syntactically and grammatically complete couplets, the form also has an intricate rhyme scheme. Each couplet ends on the same word or phrase (the radif), and is preceded by the couplet’s rhyming word (the qafia), which appears twice in the first couplet). The last couplet includes a proper name, often of the poet’s. In the Persian tradition, each couplet was of the same meter and length, and the subject matter included both erotic longing and religious belief or mysticism. Source: Poetry Foundation, accessed online December 26, 2017.
[3] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 5308-5309.
[4] Kalchuri, ibid., pg. 5309.