Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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Hence,Ḥāfiẓ’santinomianrefusaltoranktheascetic’svauntedausterityandactsof
self-mortification (zuhd) above the sybarite rake’s licentiousness (fisq), for both
awaitGod’sfinalwill–eversuspendedtillJudgementDay.^74 Thedistinctionbetween
sinner and saint is ever far from self-evident; who dares discern who’s sinner and
who’ssaint?

Come,come!Thegloryofthisuniversalfactory

Willnotbemadeonewhitmoreorlessthroughausterity

Ofmenlikeyouorbydebaucheryoffolklikeme.^75

Sincehappinessandblissinthislifeandsalvationandfelicityinthehereaftercan
only be gained through abasement, humility and self-negation,^76 ultimately, says
Ḥāfiẓ, the inspired libertine (rind) is destined to partake far more of God’s grace
thantheproudascetic:

Theascetichadtoomuchpridesocouldneversoundly

TraversethePath.Buttherakebywayofhumbleentreaty

AndbeggaryatlastwentdowntotheHouseofPeace.^77

The very anti-clerical–ostensibly amoral–doctrine expressed in this verse, which
ranks the inspired libertine and sinful debauchee higher than the graceless zealot
and self-satisfied puritan, is based on the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
in the Gospel of Luke (18:10–14).^78 This lovely gospel tale was then recast by the
Sufis as the ‘Story of the Sinner and Ascetic in the Company of Jesus’–the ascetic
whorejectedbyGodduetohisprideandthesinnerredeemedbecauseofhishumil-
ity. In the medieval Persian Sufi tradition, Luke’s parable was first retold by Abū’l-
Qāsim Qushayrī in his famous treatise on Sufism, later recounted by Abū Ḥāmid
GhazālīintheIḥyā’‘ulūmal-dīn,andfinallyandlastlyimmortalizedinversebySa‛dī
in his chapter on ‘Humility’ in theBūstān–all of which Ḥāfiẓ, the ‘Memorizer’ and
redoubtablescholarofIslam’ssacredscripture,certainlyhadread.DescribingGod’s
revelationtoJesusthatthesinner’shumbleentreatyhadreapedthefruitofsalva-
tionandtheprideofthefair-seemingbuthypocriticalzealot,whothankedGodhe
was not as other men are, earned him a place in the Fire, Ḥāfiẓ’s doctrine in the
aboveversequitepreciselyencapsulatesthegistoftheseversesfromSa‛dī’sBūstān:

The signs of Glory struck his being, yet Jesus only heard an angelic epiphany

amidsttheascetic’signorantcurses:‘BoththefoolandthewisemanIaccept’,

the Divine Call came. ‘Both petitions I endorse, but the poseur of piety gets

sent straight to hell, and the other, blackguard and profligate, I elevate to

heaveninMyGrace;forheturnedtoMerepentant,wept,waschastenedand

sobered by his darkened days, the opportunities cast away. I cannot cast out

from the chancel of My Mercy anyone who seeks Me with such self-avowed

wretchedness.Butifthepuritandogmatistthinkshe’sdefiledbythesinnerin

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry