110Anotherimportantaspectofloveistherelationshipbetweentheloverandthe
beloved.Toexplainthisrelationship,mysticsusuallyrelyontheverse(5:59):‘He
lovesthemandtheyloveHim.’AḥmadGhazālīhasplacedthisverseatthevery
beginningofhistreatiseSawāniḥtodrawthereader’sattentiontoitssignificance.
Theentiretreatisecanberegardedasacommentaryonthispregnantverse,
describingtherelationshipbetweenmanandGodasalovingunion,andatthesame
timeunderscoringthatGodwasfirsttheloverandmanthebeloved.^15 TheQur’ān
alsoinformsusthatGodcreatedmaninHisownimage,inthefairestofforms
(95:5).Incommentariesonthisverse,mankindisdepictedasalimpidmirrordis-
playingGod’s‘namesandattributes’(asmā wa ṣifāt).Mysticscitethefollowing
traditioninwhichGodstates:‘ThereasonofMycreatingyouistoseeMyvisionin
themirrorofyourspirit,andMyloveinyourheart.’^16 Inshort,Godcreatedthe
phenomenalworldfromNothingness(nīstī)forthesakeofman.^17
Unlikeothertheoreticalworksonlove,Ghazālīdoesnotomitamentionofthe
primordialoriginoflove.Inhisview,lovewascreatedfirst,andthentheSpirit
(rūḥ).AlthoughGhazālīdoesnotmentionhowGodcreatedlove,itisclearfromhis
treatisethatloveisidenticalwithGodandiseternal.Loveexistsfirstinanunadul-
teratedformwhichflowstoexistencefromGod.Lingeringontheborderofexis-
tence,lovewaitsforthehumanSpiritsothatitcancomedowntotheworld.In
Ghazālī’smetaphor,theSpiritisdepictedasthesteedoflove,whichtransportslove
totheearth.Hereonearth,loveassumesmanyfaces–sometimesitisasensual
love,sometimeslovebetweenparentandchild,andsoon–butultimatelylove
seekstoreturnbacktoitsplaceoforigin.Initsreturnjourney,loveisthesteedand
spiritistherider,bringinglovetoitsoriginalabode.
Love’sjourneythroughoutthephenomenalworldisoftendescribedbyPersian
mysticsasanarcofdescent.Love’sprimordialhomeintheworldistheheartwhere
manisenabledtodevelophispotentialtorealizeperfection,sothathisspiritcan
returntoitsoriginalabode.
Man’srelationshipwithGodstartsinpre-eternity(azal),whenGod,theessential
sourceoflove,createdAdamandbreathedintohimthespiritfromHisownbreath.
Afterwards,HespoketotheloinsofAdamonthedayofalast,or‘AmInotyourLord?’
Adam’sprogenyanswer:‘Yes,wewitnessyouare’(7:171).^18 Mysticpoetsinterpret
thisverseasthe‘Covenant’(mīthāq)betweenmanandGod,andtherelationship
betweenmanandhiscreatorisdepictedinthemosteroticimagesandmetaphors.
Ḥāfiẓ: Love and Creation
Ḥāfiẓ’spoetryissteepedinthetheosophyofthisschoolofLoveandfeaturesalmost
allitsmysticalreferences.Herefersseveraltimestoloveandthecreationofman
andtheworld.Mostofthesereferencesderivefromthemysticalinterpretationsof
thecreationmyth.Timeandagain,Ḥāfiẓemphasizesthattheexistenceoflovepre-
datesthecreationofmankindandtheworld.LikethePersianSufimysticsandḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry