Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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‘Ahd-i alast-i man hama bā ‘ishq -i shāh būd

v-az shāhrāh-i ‘umr bi-dīn ‘aḥd bugzaram.^32

Mycovenantof‘AmInot’was[apact]withtheloveoftheKing,

ThiscovenantismypassontheKing’shighwayoflife.

Theworldoffateisseenasshāh-rāh,a‘highway’,whichtheloverhastojourney,
keepinginmindtheprimordialpact.Onlythenwillmanbeabletoattainunion
withtheKing(Shāh)attheendofthisarduousjourney.
Partofthedifficultyofthisjourneyisthatmanmustbearthe‘burdenoftrust’
(bār-i amānat).Perhapsthemostfamouslineinthisrespect–inwhichḤāfiẓsum-
marizestheQur’ān,Surah33:72thatrelateshowthisburden‘wasofferedtothe
heavens,totheearth,andtothemountains,buttheyrefusedtheburdenandwere
afraidtoreceiveit,butmanundertooktobearit’–isthefollowing:

Āsimān bār-i amānat natavānist kishid

qur’a-yi kār ba nām-i man-i divāna zadand.^33

TheheavenscouldnotbeartheTrust’sburden

Whentheycastthelot,itfelltome,themadman.

Thistrusthasbeeninterpretedvariouslyasresponsibility,orfreewill,butSufi
mysticscommonlyagreethattheTrustreferstoGod’sLoveentrustedtomankind
ineternity.IntheopeningghazaloftheDīvān,inwhichaloverasksacup-bearerto
fillhiscuptolessenthepainoflove,Ḥāfiẓagainreferstothissamedivineburden
(bār):

Shab-i tārīk u bīm-i mawj u girdābī chinīn hāyil

kujā dānand ḥāl-i mā sabukbārān-i sāḥilhā?^34

Adarknight,thefearofthewavesandsuchadreadfulwhirlpool:

Whatcanthelightlyburdenedonesontheshoreknowofoursituation?

Here,Ḥāfiẓisemphasizinghardshiponthepathoflove.Toforegroundthelover’s

agonizingstate,thepoetsubtlyusesasymmetry:inthefirsthemistich,theloveris

complainingofhisgloomystateasifheistrappedinadarknight,fearingthehigh

dashingwavesandthehorriblewhirlpools.Thephrasesabukbārān-i sāḥilhā(‘the

lightlyburdenedoftheshore’)referstoangelswhoarelightlyburdenedbecause,

unlikemankind,theyhaveneverbeengracedwithLoveortheburdenofTrust.The

phrasemightalsorefertothosepeoplewhohaverenouncedallworldlypossessions

andinterests,andare,therefore,lightofburden,butthisislesslikelysincesuch

peoplewouldhavebeenthroughtheseasandwouldhaveexperiencedthetribula-

tionsofthe‘darknight’.Notethatthelongvowelīinthefirsthalfverseis

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry