Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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WhenDavānīimplementshisinterpretationofthesymbolsemployedbyḤāfiẓ,
hedoessointhissectionwithahighlytechnicalphilosophicalvocabularythatis
presumedtofurnishacategoricalexplanation.Itis,moreover,framedinavery
ornatestyle,drawingonarcanevocabularyandexpressedwiththeartificesof
rhymingprose.TherearefrequentcitationsofanonymouslinesofPersianpoetry
(whichIwillskipforreasonsofbrevity),aswellasArabicversesfromtheQur’ān,
andtheoccasionaldeploymentofḥadīth.Thismaybeseeninhisexplorationofthe
meaningof‘lastnight’accordingtotheunitarians:

Knowthatexistencehasasubstanceandadetermination.Fromtheperspec-

tiveofsubstance,thisdemandsthatinapurelyabsolutefashionitshouldbe

freedfromeverylimitationanddenudedofallrelationships.Purebeing,

whichdoesnotsetfootinmanifestation,andtranscendence,whichisnocom-

paniontorelationship,theycalltheabsolutelyhiddenpresenceandthereal-

ityintruth...Necessarily,fromthisdegree,byapaththatisabsolutely

requiredandbynecessaryvolition,thenightingalesofthatgarden[i.e.,the

unitarians]expresstheabsolutesubstancewiththephrase‘clearday’....

Likewise,thedeterminationofexistence,whichisthesourceoftheemana-

tionofprovidence,fromtheperspectiveoftheunderstandingofthosewho

arenearperceptiblethings,isexpressedbythephrase‘darkday’,becausethe

degreesofdeterminationhavehiddenthebeautyofreality.Thepeopleof

spiritualmeaninghavecalledthattheveilofthetwoworlds.Andthetressis

theallusion,andthelockofhairandthemolearetheexpression,forthesame

thing...Thusaccordingtothosewhoareperfumedbythisfreshbreeze,the

metonymsforthedivinerealityandthedegreeofdeterminationaremorning

andnight...Thefirsttheycallthehiddendivineidentity,andthesecondthey

sayisthedegreeofunity;thisisanexampleofthemelodyoftheunitarians.

Then,observingthat,inreality,thereisnonightanddayforGod,Davānīreverses
thesymbolism:

Yes,butthetimesofpre-Eternityandpost-Eternityarejoinedinthepointof

now,eveniftheintellectsaysthatthatsituationisimpossible.Inshort,the

Muḥammadanfaqirscalltheperiodoftheextensionofreality‘perpetualtime’

[waqt-i sarmadī]andbywayofdeceivingtheunworthyandcloudingthesight

ofthoselostinthedesertofignorance,theycallthat‘lastnight’....Andthe

periodoftheextensionofdeterminationandexistence,whichrequiresmani-

festation and disclosure, in their parlance is called duration [dahr]. By

metonymy,theycallthat‘today’.^10

Themethodemployedinthisinterpretationisnotablebothforitsassumptionof
theNeoplatonic–AvicennancosmologyandmetaphysicstypicalofDavānī’sage,and
forthecharacteristicequivalencythathepositsbetweenphilosophicalconcepts

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry