Send a bouquet of your face with the morning breeze.

The words of Hafez, the great Persian mystic and poet, glimmer with both tenderness and transcendence: “Send a bouquet of your face with the morning breeze.” At first, they may seem like nothing more than the romantic plea of a lover, but beneath the sweetness lies a profound teaching about longing, beauty, and the soul’s desire to be nourished by presence, even from afar. For Hafez’s poetry was never only about earthly love, but about the eternal dance between the human spirit and the Divine.

To ask for a bouquet of the face is to ask for a vision of beauty, radiant as a garden in full bloom. The beloved’s face is imagined as a cluster of flowers, each feature a petal of grace, each glance a fragrance carried by the wind. In Persian poetic tradition, the face is not only physical—it is the mirror of the soul, a sign of both human love and divine radiance. Thus, to receive it with the morning breeze is to be refreshed at dawn, when the world is reborn and hearts are most open to joy.

The morning breeze, or saba in classical Persian verse, is a symbol of renewal and divine communication. It is the messenger that carries the perfume of gardens, the whisper of lovers, the breath of God Himself. To ask it to deliver the face of the beloved is to ask the universe to bring solace, hope, and vitality. Just as the breeze touches the skin softly yet deeply, so too does the memory or vision of the beloved touch the soul and awaken life’s sweetness.

We see this longing mirrored in history. Dante Alighieri, in his Vita Nuova, spoke of how even a fleeting vision of Beatrice was like a blessing that changed the course of his soul. Her presence, even from afar, was nourishment enough to sustain his art and devotion. Just as Dante lifted Beatrice into the realm of eternal significance, so too does Hafez transform the beloved’s face into a gift as precious as sunlight or air, carried on the invisible wings of the dawn.

The wisdom of this quote is not bound to lovers alone. It reminds us that human beings survive not merely on bread and water, but on beauty, memory, and presence. The face of a loved one, even when absent, can be sent to us in spirit—through remembrance, through imagination, through the subtle energies that connect souls across distances. In this way, Hafez teaches that love transcends separation, and that even when apart, one can still send light and comfort like a bouquet borne on the breeze.

The lesson, then, is to cultivate presence and offer it generously. Just as one may “send a bouquet of the face,” so too can we send kindness in words, warmth in gestures, or encouragement in times of trial. The breeze becomes a symbol of every small act of love that reaches others unseen, yet deeply felt. The smallest offering—like a flower—can transform another’s morning into renewal and hope.

Therefore, children of the future, remember this: the true bouquet of the face is not mere beauty, but the gift of presence. Be to others like the morning breeze—gentle, refreshing, life-giving. Let your presence bring light, whether in person or from afar, so that those you love may rise with renewed strength. For beauty is fleeting when hoarded, but eternal when shared, carried endlessly on the winds of love.

Thus, Hafez’s words, wrapped in poetic sweetness, deliver an eternal truth: presence is a gift, beauty is nourishment, and love travels on every breeze. To send a bouquet of the face is to share one’s light with the world, so that each new morning may be filled not only with dawn, but with the fragrance of connection and the radiance of the soul.