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chamberoftheheart,whichisamystery,therealityofwhichcanbedirectlyexpe-

rienced,butnotcomprehended.^52 Withinhisheart,then,liesthesupremesecret–‘the

secretofthesecret’–whichthegnostichimselfcannotperceive,beingknownonly

tothe‘UniqueOne’.^53 InḤāfiẓ,onecomesacrossadifferenttermwhichnodoubt

indicatesthesamereality–hespeaks,forinstance,oftheexistenceofthe‘gem

[gawhar]ofthesecretsofbeautyandlove’inhisheart,^54 orelsewheredescribesthe

‘jewel’inhispossession,statingheisinsearchofsomeoneworthyofviewingand

understandingit.^55 Hisveryfirstinterpreter,Shujā-yiShīrāzī,wasbynomeansmis-

taken: the chapter of his book entitled ‘The Convivial Comrade’,^56 written in

1426/830,whichhedevotedto‘eye-games’(naẓar-bāzī),wascomposedwithḤāfiẓ’s

monumentstillinmind.Inthisworkheexplainsthat‘thereexistsinmanasimple

divinesubstance[jawharībasīṭilāhī]’integraltohisbeing,andwhichconstitutes‘a

kindofpowerwhichothercreaturesdonotpossess’.^57 Ḥāfiẓonceconfessedthat:

Idon’tknowwhothetroubledbeingiswhostamps

Aboutinmyoverworkedheart.Iamquietandsilent,

Andthatpersonisalwayscomplainingandcryingout.^58

‘Thatperson’,the‘he’(ū)referredtoabove,issooftentheNamelessOne,somebody
(fulānī)inhisverse.ItseemstomethatḤāfiẓ’suseofthewordssirrandrāz(secret
andmystery)isdifferentfromwhatwastransmittedbythetraditionbeforehim.
ThisiswhatIwilltrytodemonstrate.
Ḥāfiẓwasbothalyricpoetandamanofhighspirituality.Asweknow,herejected
allresorttoexpressionsofparadoxandnonsensicalmystictransport(shaṭḥ va
ṭāmāt),^59 whichseemedtohimtobeonlybombastic,grandioseandsenselessutter-
ances.^60 Ontheotherhand,‘thereisnopenwithatonguecapableofexpressingthe
mysteryoflove’,hesays.^61 Powerfulinnerandineffablestatesofconsciousnesscan
solelybeconveyedbymeansofmusicalinstruments.Suchstatescanonlybe
expressedinwardlybyinstrumentssuchastheharporrebab,whilethetambourine
andtheflutefurnishthemwithanappropriateoutwardpublicexpression.^62 Asfor
thepoethimself,justasoneshould‘Gotothegardentolearnfromthenightingale
thesecretsoflove’,soonemust‘cometothebanquettogainfromḤāfiẓtheartof
theghazal’.^63 Indeed,theflameofthecandlespeakseloquentlyaboutthe‘secret’of
thissubject,whereasthebutterflyormoth–asymbolforthepoethimself–‘isinca-
pableofspeakingaboutit’.^64 Holdinginhisdeepheartthesecretmysteryoflove,
Ḥāfiẓunderstoodtheparadoxofwishingtohideitfromeveryoneandyetseekinga
confidanttowhomhemightrevealit.Hispoetrythusliessomewherebetweenver-
balconcealmentandrevelation.Ashesays:‘LastnightwithmyownearsIheard
fromhislipssuchwordsasoneshouldnotask.’^65

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry