Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

TheReligionofLoveand

thePuritansofIslam:

SufiSourcesof √Æfiæ’sAnti-clericalism

LeonardLewisohn

Mise-en-scène

There exists a strong tradition of parody and satire of religious dignitaries among
thePersianpoetsthatcanbetracedbacktotheearlySeljukperiod,^1 whichmakesit
possibletospeakofanti-clericalisminIslamassimultaneouslyasocialphenomenon,
literary topos and spiritual attitude. Although caricature and castigation of figures
belonging to both the esoteric Sufi and exoteric clerical hierarchy appear among
nearlyallclassicalPersianpoets–Sanā’ī,‘Aṭṭār,NizārīQuhistānīand‘UbaydZakānī
inparticular–Ḥāfiẓ’sDīvānisuniqueinbeingalmostentirelyanti-clericalincom-
position.^2 In fact, one may say that his poems are as virulently anti-clerical as the
communist poetry of Vladimir Mayakowsky and Nazim Hikmat in early twentieth-
century Russia and Turkey are rabidly anti-capitalist. Yet Ḥāfiẓ’s anti-clericalism
comprisesnotsimplysocio-politicalcriticismwithareligiousveneer.Itrepresents
his own original, hypersophisticated psychological re-evaluation of religious ideas
andvalues,theliteraryandreligioussourcesofwhicharedirectlyderivedfromSufi
ethicalandmetaphysicaldoctrines,aswellasteachingstakenfromtheQur’ānand
ḥadīth,nottomentionseveralothersources.Below,myfocusofconcernwillbeon
theSufiandotherspiritualsourcesofhisanti-clericalpoetics,andinparticulartwo
characters in his lexicon: the sanctimonious Muslim pharisee or puritan ascetic
(zāhid);andhisnemesis:theInspiredLibertine(rind).^3

TheGracelessZealotandtheCreedofLove

ForModesofFaith,letgracelesszealotsfight;

Hiscan’tbewrongwhoselifeisintheright.

AlexanderPope^4

Without exception, all members of the Muslim ‘clergy’^5 of Ḥāfiẓ’s day evoke his

scornandsatire.Thestockcharactersinthepoet’santi-clericallexiconincludethe