Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

perfect;thereforethefirstseeing[gazingatoneself]is[only]alikeness,andthe

secondseeing[inamirror]is[true]reflectionsofbeauty.^19

WhetherDavānī’sassociatesfoundanyadditionalclarityinthisconcludingpassage,
withitsdenselanguagedrawinguponthevocabularyofIbn‘Arabī,canbestbe
imagined.
ThesecondtreatiseonḤāfiẓbyDavānīhasamuchmoreliterarybentthanthe
first,focusingasitdoesuponanentirepoem,theghazalbeginningdar hama dayr-i
mughānnīstchūmanshaydā’ī:‘InallthistempleoftheMaginooneisaswildasme.’
Theostensiblyliterarycharacterofthiscommentaryisfurtherenhancedbythe
quotationofnumerousotherversesbyḤāfiẓ,citedtosubstantiateaconsistent
pointofviewascribedtotheauthor.Nevertheless,Davānīmaintainshereaconsis-
tenthermeneuticthatassumesadeepstructureofconcealingandrevealingthe
divinemysteriesastheoperativeprinciplebehindallseriousliterature.Onceagain,
heconfersoraculartitlesuponḤāfiẓ,callinghimthistime‘thetongueofthe
momentandtheinterpreteroftime’(lisān al-waqt, tarjumān al-zamān).Asbefore,
Davānīisrespondingtotheimportunitiesofhisfriendswhosoughtasolutionto
themysteriesofḤāfiẓ,andheapologizesforthedelayinhopesthathisworkwillbe
appreciatedbyconnoisseurs.Hebeginsthetreatisewithanintroduction,^20 inwhich
helaysouthisstrategyofinterpretation,drawingexplicitlyonimagesandfigures
associatedwithmartyrdomforhavingrevealedthesecret,suchasḤallājand‘Ayn
al-QuḍātHamadānī:

Thejealousyoflove’spowerdemandsthatthesubtlesecretsofitseffects

shouldbehiddenintheprivacyofinnersanctumsandtheretreatsofthehid-

denessence.Thelovelinessofthatholybeautyshouldnothaveitsveilpolluted

bythegazeofimpureworldlings,whoarebynomeanscleansedoftheaban-

donmentofpovertyandtheimpuritiesofconnectionstoexistingthings.

(Arabicverse):We,themenofthetribe,saythecharmsofLaylāshouldbe

seenwhenthestarsarise,/forhowshouldLaylābeseenwithaneyethat

seesothersandisnotcleansedwithtears?

(Persianverse):Iperformedablutionswithtears,asthemenofthepathsay;

/firstbepureyourself,andthencastyoureyesonthepureone.[Ḥāfiẓ]^21

Itisforthisreasonthattheillustriousdivineway[sunnat]hasbeenorderedin

thisfashion,thefundamentalsoftheexplanationofwhicharebaseduponthe

categoricalprinciplesofthesignthat‘youshallnotfindanychangeinthe

way[sunnah]ofGod’(Qur’ān33:62).Thisisbecausesomeofthepeopleofreal-

itiesarehiddenfromtheeyesofignorantformalistsbytheclothingofcon-

ventionalforms,andtheylosethemselvesinthemidstofthegeneralityof

peoplebysharingtheirremainingcustoms.Thisisthepathofthepeople

ofsoundness.

Ḥāfiẓ and the Persian Sufi Tradition 203