Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

contrastedtothelongvowelāinthenexthemistich,formingaperfectasymmetry,

withthevowelībeingentirelyavoidedinthesecondhemistich.

ḤāfiẓcoinsvariantsonthethemeoftheburdenofdivineTrustwhenheuses‘the

burdenoflove’(bār-i ‘ishq).Inthecoupletbelow,weread:

Shāhidān dar jilva u man sharmsār-i kīsiham

Bār-i ‘ishq u muflisī sa‘b ast u mībāyad kishīd.^35

Thebeautiesaredressedtobeseen,whileIamembarrassedformypurse;

Theburdenofloveandpovertyweighshard,butitmustbeborne.

Inadditiontothisreferencetotheburden,Ḥāfiẓalsocontraststhepositionofman
andangels.Thewordshāhidānmeansnotonlythingsthataregazedupon,suchas
beautifulyouths,butalso‘witnesses’.^36 Inthelattersense,theterm‘witnesses’
alludestotheangelswhomGodinvitedtocometoviewthespectacleofthedawn
ofcreation,soastoadmirethecreationofmankind.Angelsarepurespiritual
beings,whereasmanismadeofwaterandclay.Manwasashamedofhimselfwhen
comparedtothesplendouroftheangels,butdespitehisshortcomingsheaccepted
tobeartheburdenoflove.

Iblīs and the Angels

InthecreationmythrecountedbytheSufimystics,theangelsplayanimportant

role.Ḥāfiẓrefersseveraltimestotheangels’inabilitytounderstandloveandthe

relationshipbetweenmanandGod.Godinvitestheangelstothespectacleofcre-

ationtoadmiremankind,butwhentheyhearthatGodisplanningtoappointman

asavicegerentonearth(2:30),theangelswonderwhethermanisgoingtomisuse

hispowerandcausedamage.Iblīs,orSatan,startedanargumentwithGod,dis-

obeyingHiscommandtoprostratehimselfbeforemankind.^37 Althoughultimately

IblīswastheonlyangelwhodisobeyedGod’scommand,Ḥāfiẓstatesthatangels

generallydonotknowlove:

Firishta ‘ishq nadānad ki chīst ay sāqī!

Bikhāh jām u gulābī ba khāk-i Ādam rīz.^38

Ocup-bearer,angelsdonotknowwhatloveis.

AskforabeakerandpourrosewateronAdam’sclay.

Inanothercouplet,Ḥāfiẓsings:

Jilva-ī kard rukhat dīd malak ‘ishq nadāsht

‘ayn-i ātash shud a-zīn ghayrat-u bar ādam zad.^39

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