√Æfiæ andtheSufi
Charles-HenrideFouchécour
translatedbyShushaGuppyandLeonardLewisohnBymytitle,‘ḤāfiẓandtheSufi’,Ihavenowishtoannouncethatmychapterwillbe
akindofrecitationoftales(ḥikāyat)aboutthepoet’srelationshipwiththeSufis.
Ḥāfiẓhimselftellsusthattalesandstories(qiṣṣa)don’tinteresthim,whetherthey
beepic,moralormystical.^1 Indeed,hewishednothingmorebuttobealyricpoet
(ghazal-sarā).^2 Therefore,inordertosortthroughhisactualreflectionsandthoughts
onthissubjectintherichtreasuryofhisverse,wemustneedtoselectivelyconsider
histhoughtsandplacethemintheirpropercontext.
WhileIamnotaspecialistinSufism,Ihavehadaspecialattachmenttoclassical
Persianliteratureforalongtime,and,intruth,howcananyoneavoidencountering
SufisminPersianliterature?Furthermore,isitnotthecasethatoneencountersthe
DīvānofḤāfiẓatasupremesummitofliterature,wherethehighspiritualityofthe
Persiansexpresseditselfinalyricpoetrythathadattaineditsfullestmaturity?
Accordingly,ItranslatedandcommentedonthewholeofḤāfiẓ’sDīvāninorderto
bebetterabletorelishthismasterpiece.^3 Whatpresumption–alas(gustakhī kar-
dam)!TobetterappreciatethetextoftheDīvān,inthefollowingchapterIhave
endeavouredtosituatethismonumentofliteraturewithinitsowncentury,which
wasthefourteenthcenturyoftheChristianeracorrespondingtotheeighthcentury
ofHegira.Thiswasagrandcentury,betweentheruleoftheMongolsandTimurids,
anepochofgreatcirculationofthought,inaworldwithmultiplecentres.
TheSchoolofSufisminEighth-/Fourteenth-CenturyShīrāz
ThiscenturysawtheestablishmentofthegreatSufiorders,withSufismtakingits
placeamongtheeminentsciencesofthetime.Itwasduringthiscenturythatan
immensecanonofPersianliteraturedeveloped,asDhabīḥu’llāhṢafāhasdemon-
stratedinhissurvey.^4 Diversifiedwithinwell-definedgenres,thisliteraturewas
oftendesignedforinstruction.Atthesametime,bythecompilationofmanuals,
someofwhichcontinuedtobetaughtuntilrecently,thedoctrinesoftheAsh‘arite
schoolimposeditselfamongthetheologiansandmysticsoftheperiod.
Fortheirpart,abundantcommentariesontheworksofMuḥyīal-DīnIbn‘Arabī
(d.638/1240)alsoexertedanimportantinfluence.Shi‘itethought,too,wasaffirmed