Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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ḤāfiẓandtheSufi

suḥbat-i‘āfiyatatgarchihkhwūsuftādaydil

jānib-i‘ishq‘azīzast,furūmagdhārash.

Althoughconsortingwithwhat’ssafeandsound

Seems,dearheart,tobeajoyandadelight,

Lovetoohasmuchgraceandchicandcharm,

Andhersidetoomustnotbeforsworn.^15

ḤāfiẓtreatsthefigureoftheSufiharshly.Inorderforthistobeunderstood,the

forceoftheexpressionswhichheusesagainsthimmustbeshown.Hisimpatience

wastheresultofhisexactingandrigorousdemands,foritoffendedhimtothecore

thataSufishouldusecraftinessanddeceptionwhilstpursuingthewaytoperfec-

tion.Onthecontrary,ḤāfiẓknewalltoowellhowtoexpoundtoasincereSufi

exactlywhatthisexactingspiritualidealofperfectionentailed.AmongsttheSufis

withwhomhewasacquainted,theverynotionofperfectionseemedtohave

becomeutterlydevalued,andhencehislament:

It’squitefitifwavesofbloodfrothforth

Fromtheruby’sheartbythisfraud

Anddeceit–throughwhichabrokenshard

Hadmadetheruby’smarketcrash.^16

Thereare12differentinstancesinhisDīvānwhereḤāfiẓcitesthetechnicalterm
Perfection(kamāl).Intenofthese,Perfectionisattributedtothepersonheloves–
thatis,toherjustice,thegamessheplayswithhereyesand,aboveall,herbeauty.
Intheothertwoinstances,heemploysthenotionofPerfectionvis-à-vishimself.In
oneverse,hedescribeshimselfasbeinginastateof‘perfect’bewilderment(ḥayrat)
inwhichheisinunionwithhisBeloved.^17 Inanother,hestatesthat‘despitemy
perfectloveforyou,Iliveinutterdeficiencyjustlikeacandle[bākamāl-i‘ishq-itu
dar ‘ayn-i nuqṣānam chū sham‘]’,^18 referringheretotheideathathisownlove,
howevercomplete,isstilllikeacandle–snuffedoutbeforetheradianceofthe
Beloved’ssun.Elsewhere,heexpressesthesameideaslightlydifferently,declaring
that‘nothingnessisthefinalendofeveryperfectthingthatis’(kaynīstī’stsar-anjām
harkamālkayhast).^19
TheportraitthatḤāfiẓpaintsoftheSufisisquiteasombreone.Headmitsthathe
wouldhavehadfarmoretalestotellofthemhadnothismasterbidhimtoholdhis
tongue.^20 Inouterappearancetheyseemtobesimplespiritualmendicants,butin
realitytheirgraspinghandsbetraywhattheyhaveuptheirsleeves.^21 Theyremind
one,hesays,ofthepietyofthecat:onceitsprayersandorisonsareover,itis
alwaysreadytodevourthepartridgewithinitsgrasp.^22 Eventhegreatestamong
them,‘theroyalfalconsoftheSpiritualPath’,ashecallsthem,lackallstatureand

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry