mysticalpoetrywereunitedtogether.ThisispreciselywhatonefindsinḤāfiẓ’s
Dīvān.InthefifteenthcenturyAD,thegrandcommentatoronShabistarī’spoem,
Shamsal-DīnMuḥammadLāhījī,inhisMafātīḥal-i‘jāzfīsharḥ-iGulshan-irāz(written
c. 877/1472), showed just what was at stake. Thus, commenting on two
coupletsoftheGulshan-i rāz,heappealedtotheimportantnotion–ofAkbarian
inspiration–oftheinnermostmysteryoftheophany(sirral-tajalliyyāt).^47 According
tomasterssuchasShabistarīandLāhījī,themysticalseerandknower(‘ārif)could
comprehendthetotalityofspiritualrealitiesmanifestedwithineachparticularreal-
ityofcreation.Seenfromthisperspective,theentireworldinitstotalitywasviewed
asamirrorinwhichGodhadreflectedvariousfacetsofHisdivineNamesintheir
totality.Eachatomofcreationwasthusunderstoodtobebutanotherformandfacet
oftheinfinitenumberofthedivineNames.Putanotherway,eachNamereferstothe
totalityofdivineNames,allofwhicharecollectedandcombinedwithinGod’s
Unicity.Andthatiswhatismeantby‘theinnermostmysteryoftheophany’.In
thisfashion,abeautifulhumanface,alongwitheachofitscomponentfeatures(eye,
eyebrow,lip,etc.),aswellasthecup,wineanddrunkenness–eachrefers,initsown
differentway,totranscendentspiritualrealitiesofwhichitismerelytheoutward
form.TheCupisthusamirrorwhereinthereflectionoftheCup-bearershineswhen
HepoursthepureWinethatinebriatesthedrinkerandfillshimwithloveifhebea
truelover.TheconditionofthistransfigurationhadbeenexpressedinPersianverse
foralongtime,andwaswelldescribedbySa‛dī,forinstance,inhisBūstān,wherehe
states:‘Youshallneverenterintoyourselfaslongasyouarewithyourself,andyet
nooneknowsthisexceptbybeingoutsideoneself.’^48
Suchisthe‘mysteryoftheophany’,whereintheineffableandparadoxicalreali-
tiesoftheworldoflovearerevealedtotheintoxicated,whohavebeentransported
outsidetheirpersonal‘selves’.Everythingbeganatthatprimordialmomentofthe
EternalCovenant(seeQur’ān,7:172),towhichbothShabistarī^49 andḤāfiẓ^50 intheir
poetryrefer.Toexpresswhatcanbeunderstoodofthismysteryorsecret,Ḥāfiẓ
employsnootherwordbuttheArabicsirr,oritsPersianequivalentrāz.Thisterm
referstotheknowledgeofarealitythatcanbecommunicatedonlybythe‘keeper’
ofthissecret,whoisthenatlibertytorevealit–ornot–tooneoranotherofits
confidants.This‘mystery’relatestoarealitybeyondtheboundsofnormalsensory
perceptionthatisthen‘translated’bytheperceivingsubjectintowhatcanonlybe
anapproximatelanguageexpressibleinparadoxicalterms,orvoicedpoetically
throughalanguageofanalogy.Sucha‘mystery’canbea‘secret’fortheonewho
perceivesit.Atanyrateitiskeptasecret,revealedonlytotheinitiatesoftheworld
ofexperiencetowhichitbelongs,ortoonewhohaspreparedhimselfforsuchan
initiation.
Inastudywhichisineverysenseremarkable,‘AlīSharī‘atKāshānīhasrecently
demonstratedthatinPersianmysticalliterature‘theterm“secret”designatesthe
heartorthesoul’sinteriorfoundation.Itisconsideredtobeaninfinitelysubtle
entity[laṭīfa],situatedintheheartofthemysticasakindofdivine“deposit”
[vadī‘a].’^51 Suchaheartis‘contemplative’,andits‘secret’comprisestheinnermost
ḤāfiẓandthePersianSufiTradition 151