Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

soIcreatedtheworld’,isaveryfamousḥadīth^24 thathasinspiredmanymystics’ver-
tiginousmeditationsonthenatureofmanand,indeed,onthemeaningofcreated
beingsasmirrorsreflectingthebeautyoftheCreator.Anotheridearelatedtothe
themeofprimordialcovenant(alast)andalludedtointhenextversebyḤāfiẓisthat
theangelscouldnotunderstandthis‘hiddentreasure’,sincetheirnaturesdidnot
allowthemtobeartheheavyburdenoftheweightyTrustbestowedbyGodupon
mankind.^25 And,ofcourse,thisnecessitatesthesuperiorityofmankindoverthe
angels,althoughḤāfiẓsayselsewherethat:

Bothhumanbeingsandangelstaketheirsustenance

Fromtheexistenceoflove.Thepracticeofdevotion

Isagoodwaytoarriveathappinessinbothworlds.^26

Allcreaturesareinfactproducedoutoftheexistenceoflove,butthisdoesnotnec-
essarilymeanthattheycanunderstandthenatureofloveorachieveunionwiththe
Beloved.Formankind,theproblemisthatbyundertakingthe‘voyageofdescent’
(sayr-i nuzūlī)fromtheuppercelestialrealmdowntothislowermaterialworld,
bothmindandheartseemtohavelostallmemoryofthepre-Eternalepiphanyof
beautyandtheapparitionoflove.Therefore,thewholepurposeofthemystics’
returning‘voyageofascent’(sayr-i su‘ūdī)istoregainthestateofthesoulthat
allowedthecontemplationofbeauty.Inotherwords,whenthehumansoulenters
thematerialbody,itlosesthememoryofitsrealnature,originandpurpose.This
maybeabetterwayofunderstandingthepassageoftheQur’ānreferredtoabove
(33:72),whereitwasstatedthatbyacceptingtheTrust,manprovedhimselfenig-
maticallytobe‘anunjusttyrantandafool’(ẓalūman jahūlan).^27 Thisfollymaybe
readashumanity’sforgetfulnessanddispositiontobeheedless,becausemanis,in
essence,aforgetfulcreature.‘Ascholar’,Al-Ma’arīreports,‘hasarguedthatyouare
infactnamed“man”(insān)onaccountofyourforgetfulness(nisyān)’.^28 Theadjec-
tiveẓalūmanmaythusbereadtomeanthatnotonlyismanunjustandcruel,to
himselfaswellastyrannoustowardsothers,butasindicativeofthestateofanyone
overwhomdarkness(ẓulmat)hasfallen,havingforgottenthememoryofhispre-
EternalconditionandsoforfeitedthedivineTrust.
Onlythoseprivilegedsoulswhohavebeensingledoutbydestiny^29 havekeptin
theirmemorytherecollectionofthatDay,thevisionofwhichtheycanonlynarrate
inalanguagethatcannotbethelanguageofcommonrealitywhichhasbeenbuilt
ontheillusionarytruthoflogicalthinking.^30 Ḥāfiẓisonesuchprivilegedsouland
thismayaccountforhischoiceof‘Ḥāfiẓ’ashisnomdeplume(takhalluṣ)–thatis,‘the
onewhoremembers,whohaspreservedthememory’ofwhathappenedinpre-
Eternity.‘Remembering’hereimpliesnotonlykeepinginmindthedazzlingexperi-
enceofepiphany–butalsobearingconsciously,withallitsweight,themomentous
Trustoflove,alongwithitsknowledgeandtheheavyresponsibilitywhichbeinga
trusteeentails.Inanotherghazal,inwhichḤāfiẓdescribestheeventsthattook
placeonthedayofalast(referredtoasdūshor‘lastnight’),hestates:

Ḥāfiẓ and the School of Love in Classical Persian Poetry 127