Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

beauty’,astheProphet’ssaying(ḥadīth)attests.^12 Thefunctionofthemysticalghazal

isthustoreflect,inanaestheticallyharmoniousmanner,thisintimateconnection

betweenBeautyandLove.

Inwhatfollows,whileanalysingsomeofthesemysticalthemes,Iwilldiscuss

someofthekeyconcepts(Beauty,Love,Griefandothers)inthesymboliclexiconof

Ḥāfiẓ’seroticphilosophy,focusingonthefollowingpoemthatIwouldcallthe

ghazalofPre-Eternity:

1 Onedayinpre-Eternityarayofyourbeauty

Shotforthinablazeofepiphany.

Thenloverevealeditselfandcastdown

Afirethatrazedtheearthfromtoetocrown.

2 Yourfacerevealeditself,butsawtheAngelshad

Nolove,thenturnedlikefireconsumed

Withjealousrage,andstruckthesoulofman.

3 Fromlove’sflamereasonwishedtolight

Itslamp.Alightningboltofjealouswrath

Shotoutandmadeallhavocoftheworld.

4 Theimpostortriedtoscrutinizethescene

OfMysterybutfromtheArcanum

Ahandlashedoutandsmashedthestranger’schest.

5 Foralltherest,fromFate’sgamesofchance

Joywasordained.Myheartalone,that’sracked

Withwoe,gotgriefbythelotsoffate.

6 Thehighersoulwhichalwayslongedtogain

Accesstothewellwithinyoursunkenchin,

Reachedoutitshandandgrabbedthosetangledlocks.

7 Ḥāfiẓ,thatdayyourbookofThe Joy of Love

Wascomposedforyou,thepencrossedout

Allmeansyourheartcouldeverknowdelight.^13

In Pre-Eternity...

Themajorthemeoftheghazal,expressedinitsveryfirstword,isavisionofanevent
thattookplace‘inpre-Eternity’(darazal),atatimewhentherewasnotime,referred
tobyḤāfiẓinotherpoemsinvarioustermsasthe‘DayofPre-Eternity’(rūz-i azal),^14
the‘FirstDay’(rūz-i avval),^15 the‘AncientPledge’(‘ahd-i qadim),^16 orthe‘Dayofthe
Covenant’(rūz-iialast),^17 timefunctioninghereasthesettingforthefoundingevent
ofIslam’smetahistory.Infact,dar(‘in’)isaprepositionofspaceandtime,express-
ingtheideaofan‘inner’spacethatis,atonce,atime.Asspecialistsknow,andas
simplereadersofḤāfiẓintuitivelyfeel,eachwordchosenbythepoetisimportant:
eachtermhasbeenhonedandchiselledtoconveyawholeconstellationofmeanings

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