signs of stendhal

Sure. Well, I can tell you my interpretation of Daniel Ladinsky’s translation of an already translated poem written nearly seven centuries ago, so whatever I say will be a few deviations away from its “meaning,” but here’s how I read it:

One part of enlightenment is understanding that there is nothing in this world that is not a miracle. No matter how simple it seems to us or how accustomed to it we become, every single atom is a miracle and therefore warrants our awe. That’s a pretty typical mystic/animist assertion.

Then Hafiz proposes a less celebrated aspect of enlightenment regarding the management of this justified desire to rave. He says the enlightened person will not constantly rave about every single atom despite constantly appreciating its miraculous nature. An enlightened person will restrain that urge when appropriate. Ladinsky (who used lots of contemporary lingo in this particular collection) translated the examples given as “when there are // young souls near … or people trying to sleep.” Not knowing the original Persian, I can’t say how literal or liberal his word choice is here, but to me this represents two basic scenarios:

(1) “young souls,” are not necessarily young people, but people still early on their journey toward enlightenment. They deserve to forge their own path to the mountain top, and squwaking universal glories at them won’t help. So basically this is advice to resist the temptation to over-praise/explain your epiphanies to (would-be) seekers, and rather get out of their way.

(2) To “let people sleep” means just that, which is to say, not to be a dick. Profound insight sometimes turns people into dicks. Such people spend so much time zoomed out in the eternal perspective that they stop relating to others’ daily needs and considerations. The truly enlightened understand that life also happens on a mundane level, and people aren’t always on the same level as their company. In such cases, they don’t insist on subjecting others to their own ecstatic fits. When it’s the right time to share awe with someone else, it should feel right.