Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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• YaḥyāibnMu‘ādhRāzī(d.258/871)declared:‘Thecontritionofsinnersisfarbet-
  terthanthepompouspretensionsanddisplayofpietyputonbysanctimonious
  worshippers.’^131


• One of the followers of Abū Sa‘īd ibn Abī’l-Khayr (d. 440/1048) asked him: ‘Does
  the devoted worshipper of God cease to being a devotee if he sins?’ ‘If he is a
  devotee,notatall,’arguedthemaster,‘forthesinningofourfatherAdam,peace
  be upon him, did not cause him to lose his rank as God’s devotee or make him
  ceasetobeGod’sdevotee.BeadevoteeofHim,thengodowhereveryoulike.For
  sin accompanied by contrition is certainly better than devotional worship with
  pride [as can be seen from the fact that] Adam exhibited contrition [and so was
  saved],whereasIblīsactedwithpride[andsowasdamned].’^132


• AnṣārīevenfamouslyversifiedinhisMunājātImām‘Alī’sdictumcitedabove:‘O
  Lord,Idespairofsuchobedientdevotionofmineasmakesmeproud,butblessed
  bethatsinwhichmakesmebegforgiveness!’^133

In myriad verses, Ḥāfiẓ elaborates this same liberated and liberal Persian Sufi atti-
tudetowardssin,drawingonsuchsayings.
In the following verse, his ironical contrast of the conceited self-esteem of the
ascetic engaged in ritual ‘prayers’ (namāz) to his own drunkenness (mastī) and
poverty of spirit (niyāz)–the vainglorious attitude of the former by implication
incurring his damnation–inculcates exactly the same moral message found in the
sayingscitedabove:

Thestarchyasceticpuffedupwithprayersandme

Withmeagremeans,drunkenwaysandpoverty–

Betwixtandbetween,let’sseewhoGodwillfavour.^134

Infact,thisverserecastsaGospelsayingverypopularamongSufisthatwascitedby

Hāfiẓ’s favourite Sufi master, Amīn al-Dīn Balyānī, mentioned above.Jesus warned

hisdisciples:‘Odisciples,howmanylampsareblownoutbyalittlebreeze,andhow

manydevoteeshavebeenruinedbyconceit.’Takingacuefromthissaying,Balyānī

moralizes:

Ifswollen-headedness[‘ujb:NBthesametermusedbyḤāfiẓinthisverse]and

pride[kibr]canvitiateallthegooddeedsofdevotees[‘ābidān]whoarecloseto

God,thenthecaseofthosewhoarefarfromGodismadeallthemoreimpalpa-

ble.Somakethesumandsubstanceofyourcharactertobeindigence,humil-

ity,lowlinessandpovertyofspirit,thatyoumaybesaved.^135

Inadditiontothesayingsnarratedbytheaboveauthors,themainsourcesofḤāfiẓ’s

enlightenedtheologyofsinwerethemulti-volumeKorancommentaryinPersian–

Kashfal-asrār–byRashīdal-DīnMaybudī(d.520/1126),Anṣārī’schiefspiritualheir,

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry