Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

150

InthislowerrealmwheretheMasteroftheTavernalsodwells,Ḥāfiẓhasbecome
Love’s‘libertine’,liberatedfromalllawsandsolelydrivenbytheforceoflove,thus
realizingaspiritualstatebeyondeventhatofthehigh-rankingSufi.Atthisjunc-
ture,heturnstotheSufi,andremarks:

Thecup’samirror,inwhich,crystal-clear

youmaygaze,ohSufi,andseetherein

Theglowandsheenoftherubywine.^38

Ashegazesattheglowglimmeringoffthesparklingsurfaceofthewine,ahidden
mysteryisrevealedtotheSufi,whichisthejewelburieddeepwithineachman.^39
Formerly,theSufiusedtoshatterandsmashhiscupandwine-glass.Now,having
imbibedthefirstdraughtofthiswine,hehasbecomeinitiatedintothesapiential
loreofEros–Love’sknowledge.^40
Up until that point, a kind of fake virtue – phony sobriety and smug self-
consciousness(hushyārī)–hadpreventedtheSufifromprogressing.TheSufiwas
concernedaboutpurity,butinfact,onlylove,whichis‘thesecretofhisinebria-
tion’,^41 foundwhentheloverhaslostallcareforandsenseofself,ispure.Thusthe
poetinviteshisreaderto‘Comeseethepurityoftherubywine!’^42 JustasSufisets
forthforhispiousoratoryofprayer(ṣūma‘a)inpursuitofpurityofself(ṣafā),Ḥāfiẓ
makeshiswaytotheTaverninuttersincerity(ṣidq).^43
Iftheasceticscan’tunderstandanythingaboutthesecretsofinebriation,there
areSufiswhoarepreparedtoenterintothismystery.Thoughdeckedoutintat-
teredrobesandmulti-colouredcloaks,theyseektorelishthetasteofthedivine
presence,yetcraveknowledgeofesotericmysteriesfromthosewhoarethemselves
benighted.^44 TheSufiwhodiscoversthedooroftheTavernatoncerenounceshis
backwardasceticism,^45 andoncehavingburneduphisSufifrock(khirqa)becomes
convertedintoasagemysticwayfarer(‘ārif-isālik).^46

ALanguageofMystery

Ḥāfiẓ,likesomanypoetsbeforehim,foundanincomparablyrichgamutofexpres-
sionsinthemetaphorsofthecup,wineanddrunkenness.Inlyricpoetry,wine
offersasimpleregisterwherebythebareouterpurportofthemetaphorrelatingto
themeaningofprohibitionandtransgressioncanbetranscended,andecstasyand
eroticunionenteredinto.Intermsofspirituality,however,thismetaphoralludesto
somethingexperiencedasarealitythatisnotonlyimpossibletonameanddefine,
butalso,paradoxically,somethingunthinkablerationally.
IntheparticularliterarymilieuinwhichḤāfiẓlived,ithadbeenwellunderstood
–eversinceagenerationearlier,whenin717/1317MaḥmūdShabistarīhadcom-
posedhisfamousGardenofMystery(Gulshan-irāz)–howprofanepoeticimagerycould
beusedtovividlyconveyideasofaspiritualorder.Inthismanner,courtpoetryand

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry