Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

you talk to a box turtle. Ḥafiẓ studies today suffer from a similar conspiracy of

silence.Inmodernliterarystudiesandcriticaltheory,especiallyinthecontempo-

raryWest,theverticalpurportandspiritualimportofhissymbolicimagerybyand

largearedeliberatelyneglected,andtheesotericdoctrinesandmetaphysicalteach-

ings inspiring his verse are treated as irrelevancies. Most interpretations of his

poetrytreathimsimplyasabrilliantcourtpoetofanentirelysecularandworldly

bent. It is hoped that the chapters in the present volume, penned by the world’s

leading experts in classical Persian poetry, will serve in some minor degree to

redressthecalumnyofdecadesofcollectivecriticalneglectofthespiritualsources

andmetaphysicalbasesunderlyingḤāfiẓ’steachingsonlove.

Part I of the volume, which places ‘Ḥāfiẓ in the Socio-historical, Literary and

Mystical Milieu of Medieval Persia’, comprises two sections. In the first prole-

gomenon,Ḥafiẓ’soeuvreiscontextualizedwithinthemedievalsocietyofShīrāzand

inclassicalandmodernPersianbelles lettres.Anoverviewofthelittleweknowof

Ḥafiẓ’s life and times is then presented, followed by a lengthy review and re-

evaluationofthecourtlymilieuofhispoemsandanexaminationofhisrelationship

–andlackthereof–tovariousprincesandpatronsmentionedinhispoetry.Here,I

underlinethefactthatḤafiẓwasnotacourtpoet,oratleastnotaprofessionalpane-

gyristinthetraditionalsenseoftheword.Anassessmentofsomeofthecausesof

hissupremepositioninclassicalPersianlyricalpoetryisalsooffered.

ThesecondprolegomenonaimstosummarizethekeyteachingsofḤafiẓ’serotic

spirituality.Inparticular,Iexplorethesocial,literaryandmetaphysicaldimensions

ofthepoet’smostimportantsymbol:theInspiredLibertine(rind).Asurveyofthe

eroticethicofhisromanticphilosophyofrindīisoffered,alongwithanoutlineof

the two related contemplative disciplines practised by itsfedeli d’amore:the Art

ofEroticContemplation(shāhid-bāzī)andtheArtoftheEroticGaze:Contemplation

ofHumanBeauty(naẓar-bāzī).ThissectionconcludeswithastudyofḤāfiẓ’smalā-

matīethicandhispraiseoftheriteofthespiritualvagabonds(qalandarī).

PartIIcomprisesthreechaptersdevotedtothesubjectof‘ḤāfiẓandtheSchoolof

LoveinClassicalPersianPoetry’.

In the volume’s keynote chapter on ‘The Principles of the Religion of Love in

ClassicalPersianPoetry’,oneofIran’smostpopularcontemporarythinkers,Husayn

Ilahi-Ghomshei, surveys the main themes and principles of the transcendental

ReligionofLove,madhhab-i‘ishq,inPersianandArabicSufiliterature,aswellasin

classicalPersianpoetry.Heshowshowthesourcesofthismysticaleroticdoctrine

appearbothinthewritingsofthetwogreatSufimartyrs–Manṣūral-Ḥallāj(exe-

cuted304/922)and‘Aynal-QuḍātHamadhānī(executed526/1132)–aswellasinthe

earliestPersiancourtpoetssuchasRūdākīSamarqandī(d.329/940)andSanā’īof

Ghazna(d.525/1131).Likewise,hepointsouthowmanifestationsofthedoctrines

of that same School of Love can be found in the writings of Arab mystical

poet–philosopherssuchasMuḥyīal-Dīnibnal-‘Arabī(d.638/1240)and‘Umaribn

Fāriḍ (d. 633/1235), and in the Persian poetry of Niẓāmī of Ganja (d. 598/1202),

Editor’sIntroductionandAcknowledgements xxi

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