Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

Itisunclearwhichmysticfirstusedtheterm‘ishqsystematicallytorefertothe
passionateloverelationshipbetweenmanandGod.^7 Beforethetwelfthcentury,
mysticscommonlyusedmaḥabbat,butfromthetwelfthcenturyonwardsthisterm
wasreplacedby‘ishq,orthetwowereusedinparallel,assynonyms.Beforethesec-
ondhalfoftheeleventhcentury,mysticsgenerallyavoidedtheterm‘ishqwhen
referringtothelovebetweenmanandGod^8 becauseoftheterm’seroticimport.
Eveninthetwelfthcentury,duringthetimeofAḥmadGhazālī,thetermcarriedan
eroticconnotation,andmysticswhousedthetermtoexplaintheloverelationship
betweenmanandGodwerecriticizedbytheologians.Todefendthemselves,several
twelfth-centuryPersianmysticspointedtotraditionsusingthenon-Qur’ānicterm
‘ishq.Inmanytreatises,evenwhentheauthortalksaboutprofanelove,spiritual
loveisimplicitandametaphysicalinterpretationisusuallypossible.Earthlyloveis
regardedasapreparationforspirituallove.Forexample,althoughatthebeginning
oftheSawāniḥ,theauthorpromisesthereadertospeakaboutalovewhichdoesnot
belongtoanydirection,neithertotheCreatornortothecreatures.However,he
provesunabletokeephispromiseand,fromtheopeningchapter,depictsspiritual
love:^9

Distinction is incidental in the directions that love turns its face. The

essenceofloveisfreefromdimensions;itmustindeedhaveitsfaceatno

directioninordertobelove.Andyet,whenthehandclutchesthetimeless

moment-of-inspiration,Idonotknowuntowhichlandthewaterwillbecon-

veyed.WhenagroommountstheSultan’ssteed,itisnothishorse,yetitdoes

noharm.^10

MysticssuchasAḥmad-iJāmNāmiqī(d.536/1141)usedseveraltraditionsinfavour

of‘ishq,quoting,‘Myservantdoesnotstopapproachingmetillhebecomesmy

loverandIhislover.’^11 Ibn‘Abbādī(d.549/1154)devotesawholechapterto‘ishqin

hisSūfī-nāma,^12 distinguishingseveralstagesoflove.Inhisopinion,therearefive

stageswhichbringmantothehighestleveloflove(‘ishq):‘Whensometrouble

appearsintheheartforanabsentee,thisiscalledlonging[shawq];whenanunder-

standingwithsomeoneisestablished,itiscalledlove[mawaddat];whentheperson

choosessomeoneasafriend,itiscalledfriendship[khullat];whenthefriendship

becomesfreefromanycalamity,andhonestyisemployedtoattainthefriend’scon-

tentment,itiscalledlove[maḥabbat];whenthepersonismeltedinthemelting-pot

ofmaḥabbatandheturnshisfacetowardsannihilation,itiscalledpassionatelove

[‘ishq].’^13 Ibn‘Abbādīemphasizesthat‘ishqistheloftieststageofpassionatelovein

whichethicalandmysticalperfectioncanbeaccomplished.Heunderlinesthatnot

everyoneisabletoreachthiselevatedstage,andthemysticshouldfollowapartic-

ularitinerary:‘Longingisforthenovice;friendshipisforhewhoisinthemiddle;

love[maḥabba]isforhewhohasreachedtheend.Andifsomeonereachestheper-

fectionofpassionatelove[‘ishq]heseesthattherealityoflovecannotbeexpressed

bywords.’^14

Ḥāfiẓ and the School of Love in Classical Persian Poetry 109