Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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Prophets,thatis,Muḥammad.ThispassagelinksthecosmicroleoftheProphet
Muḥammadwithhisexperienceofheavenlyascension,describedintheQur’ān
(53:9)asapproaching‘twobows’lengthsornearer’tothedivinepresence.Davānī
qualifiesthetwoarcs(qaws)ofthe‘bows’lengths’ascomprisingthepropheticrole
incosmicmanifestation(ẓuhūr)andthesaintlydegreeofconsciousness(shu‘ūr).
Thispermitshimtoconnectthenotionofgradualmanifestationandunveilingwith
‘theSealoftheSaints’,theesotericfigurewhoseadventhadbeenproclaimedbyal-
Ḥakīmal-TirmidhīandwhoserolewasclaimedbyIbn‘Arabī.Davānīisfullyaware
ofthemessianicimplicationsofthislinkage,citinginsupportthewell-known
propheticḥadīthonthecomingofonewhoshall‘filltheearthwithjusticeand
equityasitisnowfilledwithoppressionandinjustice’.Theapproachoftheapoca-
lypse means that overflowing revelation is available everywhere, including in
poetry:

Sincethetimeofthemanifestationofthatholyonedrawsnear,theannunci-

ationofthoselightsincreasedailyindisplayandmanifestation,andthe

proofsofthetruthofthisclaimareestablishedonthepageoftime’scondi-

tions,ifanyonewithaninsightfulglancelooksclosely.Forthegraceofflow-

inggeniusesandtheclosecapacityofmostofthechildrenofthetimeis

advancedinrelationtotheirfathers,andtheirambitionslikewisebythesame

relation,againbythebenefitsoftheapproachingtimeofthereveredinheri-

torandmasteroftime[i.e.,theexpectedmessiah],asthesayinggoes(Arabic

verse):‘theEarthhasaportionofthecupofgenerosity.’Thesecretsofgnosis

arepronouncedoneverytongue,andtheshoutisraisedoftheoriginalaimof

reality,inaccordancewiththevoicesofdifferingcapabilities.

ThesecretofGod,whichthegnostictravellertellstonoone–/Iamamazed

wherethewinesellershearditfrom.[Ḥāfiẓ]^26

Andsincetheperfectionofconsciousness[ish‘ār,apunonash‘ār,‘verses’]is

fromthespecialcharacteristicsofthecreationoftheSeal[oftheSaints],

thosewhoresorttothedesertsofannihilationinexplanationoftherealities

ofjoy,havingtakenthepathofpoeticsimilitudes,expresssublimeintentions

withthecustomaryimagesofrogueswithshamelesscheeks.^27

Todemonstratehispointthatpoetryistheexpressionofmysticaltruths,Davānī
thenquotesinsupporttwoversesfromthefamouswineode(al-Khamriyya)ofthe
masterofArabicmysticalpoetry,Ibnal-Fāriḍ(d.1235).Aswithhisotherquota-
tions,Davānīdoesnotbothertoprovidetheauthor’sname,assumingthatthe
readerwillbefamiliarwithit.
Atthispoint,Davānīshiftsintoaquickallegoricalexpositionofthefrequently
appearingimagesofnon-Muslimreligiousgroups(‘infidels’)thatappearsooftenin
Persianpoetry:^28

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry