Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

consequentlycametobeviewedasafargraversinthanconsumptionofintoxicat-
ingbeverages–whichispreciselytheethicalmessageinculcatedbysuchbacchana-
lianpronouncementsas:

Drinkwine.Tosinahundredtimesalone

Wherenooneknowsisbetterthantheseorisons

Theyofferupforpublicpiousdissimulation.^115

Going on the offensive with this radical anti-clerical rhetoric, as an act of defiance
toreligiousfraudsters,Ḥāfiẓdeclaresthattheremayevenbeakindofreligiouspietyin
winedrinking:

Thedrinkingofwineinwhichthere’snochicanery

Orputtingonanactisbetterthanthecantofphoney

Asceticalpietyanditscounterfeitdevotionssetondisplay.^116

Justastodaydefendersofwomen’srights,inordertodefythebrutalandrepressive
mullahocracyinIran,predicatetheiractivitiesasbeingaLipstickJihad–thetitleof
Azadeh Moaveni’s delightful memoir of reporting forTime magazine in the
Ayatollahs’ Republic–for poets resisting the tyranny of religious despots, such
petulantlydefiantbacchanalianlanguageindeedprovedveryeffective.Sincethere
is certainly far more virtue in being a notorious drunkard in public than grace in
beingagoodhypocriteinprivate,Ḥāfiẓargues:

Theysayhypocrisyiskosherbutthewineglassisprohibited?

WhichSufiPathisthis?Howgreatagovernment,what

PureHolyCanonLaw,whatfineFaiththisallshowsus!^117

Such anti-clerical bacchanalian expressions (a dozen others just as brazen might be
cited)allowedḤāfiẓtoclarifyhispositioninregardtothesanctimonyofMuslimcler-
ics,withtheirhypocriticalmasqueradeofenforcingabstentionfromwine.Hestresses
that open and public consumption of wine is ethically preferable and even morally
superiortoMuslimprohibitionists,whowouldgiveafalseimpressionofabstinence:

Godfearingpietyandholyduty:leavethosetoascetics.

Tousleavewine,andlettimedecreebetween

ThetwowhichonetheFriendshallchoose.^118

***

Ibegyourpardon,ascetics,I’llneverabandon

Thelipofthefriendnorthebottleofwine.

Tomeit’sthesethatcomprise‘religion’!^119

ḤāfiẓandthePersianSufiTradition 177