126andemotionsinanutshell.Pre-Eternity–azal–isonesuchtechnicaltermthat
bringstomindawholerangeofreligiousandmysticaltraditions,andemotions
relatedtothosetraditionsthattouchtheheart,summoninguptothesoul,asit
were,echoesofalostmemory.
This whole gamut of psycho-spiritual experience that every sensitive and
attunedPersian-speakingreaderimmediatelyapprehendsfromthetermazalis
bettergraspedwhenweexaminethemetahistoryoftheterm.Itisgenerally
acceptedthatsomemajoreventstookplaceonthe‘DayoftheCovenant’(rūz-i i
alast)inpre-Eternity.AccordingtotheQur’ān,^18 therewasonceaprimordial‘day
beforetime’,beforetheactualcreation(khalq),where,ina‘spacewithoutspace’,
nodistancebetweenCreatorandcreatureexisted.Inthatprelapserianaeon,God
taughtAdamthenamesofallthings,^19 andmadeacovenantwithAdam.Godthen
askedtheyetunbornchildrenofAdam–humanity-to-be–totestifywhetherHe
wasnottheirLord(thefamousinterrogation:Alast bi-rabbikum?).Theyalltestified
thatHewastheirLord.Bytheirecstaticrejoinderof‘Yes’tothisdivinequery,they
sealedtheprimordialpactoflovebetweentheCreatorandHiscreatures.But
acceptingGodastheirLord,Adam/humankindacceptedthemomentousBurdenof
theTrust(bār-iamānat)^20 thatsealedman’sfate.Muslimmysticshavealternatively
interpretedthis‘burden’asbeingeitherloveorknowledge.^21 But,forourpoet,
thereisnoopposition:namingthingsmeansbothknowingwordsandtheobjects
theydenote,aswellaslovingthem,insofaraswordsstandfortherealityofthings.
Theveryrootofthewordforpoetry–shi‘r–inArabicisderivedfromtheverb
sha’ara(toknow,understandintuitively)and,duetoitsconnectionwithknowl-
edgeandunderstanding,poetryisperceivedashavingananagogicfunction.^22 In
thisparticularghazal,whendiscussingthoseeventsinpre-Eternity,Ḥāfiẓclearly
connectslovetoasuperiorknowledgebestoweduponmanintheformof‘radiant
beauty’onthatpre-Eternalday.
‘Inpre-Eternityarayofyourbeautyshotforth...’(Darazalpartaw-iḥusnatzitajallī
dam zad),Ḥāfiẓwrites.Theverbdam zadan(translatedhereas‘shotforth’)literally
meansto‘breatheforth’,‘toexpire’–theverbevokingtheideaofawhisperedsecret
breathedintotheear.Itisimportanttonotethatthesubjectoftheverbpartaw-iḥus-
nat(‘arayofyourbeauty’)–andhencemytitle,the‘RadianceofBeauty’–isavisual
realitythatspeakstotheearandrevealssomethingessentialaboutthenatureofthe
divinemanifestationorepiphany(tajallī)thatevokedthatbeauty.Here,again,these
connotationsofthewordareessentialbecausetheyarerelatedtotheideaofalumi-
nousrevelation.So,onthatonedayinpre-Eternity,asecretwasbothseenandheard:
Beauty,anAttributeoftheCreator’sFace,wasrevealedandthesecretofitsmani-
festation,inavisibleform,suggested.Toldintermsofadazzlingfieryblaze(ātash)
oflight,thatradiant‘ray’(partaw)flashedforthbydivine‘epiphany’(tajallī),anditis
thisprimordialeventthattriggeredloveinthehumansoul.Thewholeuniverse
(‘ālam)^23 isaresultofthisfirstmanifestation,yetonlymanreceiveditsimpact:was
directly‘struck’byit.GodhimselfwantedtorevealHisbeautyinordertobeseen
andloved;theIslamictradition,‘IwasahiddentreasureandIwantedtobeknown,
ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry