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nameofthemasterisgivenasShaykhMaḥmūd‘Aṭṭār,whoisdescribedasanout-
standingSufiofhistime.Thesamesourcemaintainedthat,duringavisittothe
shrineofShaykhIbnKhafīfinShīrāz,heencounteredamastertherewhowas
deeplyimmersedintheteachingsofShaykhRūzbihānBaqlī.Whenthenarrator
describedShaykhMaḥmūd‘Aṭṭār,hisinterlocutorrepliedthatthatwashisown
master.Davānīconcludesthatthisisthejustificationforcommentatorstoexplain
thepoetryofḤāfiẓintermsofhisspiritualstates.Mostmodernscholarshave
focusedonthisaccountasapieceofhistoricalevidencetobeconsideredindecid-
inguponthefacticityofḤāfiẓ’sconnectiontoSufism,orelseitsrefutation.^31
FrequentattemptshavebeenmadetolinkthepoetryofḤāfiẓwiththeSufiteach-
ingsofRūzbihān.^32
Yet it is interesting to see the accompanying hermeneutical argument that
Davānīaddsalongsidethisostensiblyhistoricalaccount:
Secondly,thereisthatwhichmostoftheliteratisayaboutsomeofthestates
oftheauthor[Ḥāfiẓ],whichareonthelipsofthepeople.‘AndGodhasinsight
intotheconditionsofhisservants.’Theyhaveunderstoodhiswordsinthe
sameexternalmeaningsthatnointellectualwouldconsideritlegitimateto
restricttothosesuppositions.Theyhaveplacedthefingerofastonishmenton
theteethofthoughtfromtheinterpretationof[hisverses]bythelikesof
thesespiritualrealities.Theyarecompletelyignorantofthecontentsof‘Don’t
lookatwhospeaks,lookatwhatisspoken’,andthemeaningof‘Knowthe
manbythetruth,notthetruthbytheman’.^33 Andifitisassumedthatthe
intelligentpersonhasinnowayevenaglimmeringoftruthinrelationtothis
meaning,thederivationofthesemeaningsfromhimistheultimatemanifes-
tationanddistinction,andthesourceofinsight.Thepossessorofaspiritual
statehasspiritualstatesasaresultofthat.Ifsomeonechargeshimself,he
knowswithoutahintofdoubtorimaginationthatfrom[thevendor’scryof]
‘Countrythyme!’[sa‘tar barrī]hehears,‘Openupandseemypiety’[as‘a tara
birrī].^34 Forthatreason,heisoverwhelmedwithecstasy,bythelatterpath,for
whichparallelmeaningsmaybediscoveredforthelikesofthesesayings.^35Whiletheargumentisatrifleconvoluted,Itakethistomeanthat,firstofall,ordi-
narypeoplehaveunderstoodtheversesofḤāfiẓinthemostexternalandliteral
sense.Yetifsomeoneknowsnothingofthespiritualmeaningsofsuchexpressions,
andyetneverthelessdiscoversthemthroughaccidentalsimilarity,thisisinreality
agenuinesourceofinsightand,indeed,ecstasy.Therearenumerousexamplesof
such‘accidental’discoveriesinSufilore.Yettheimplicationisthatthelegitimacy
ofthemysticalinterpretationofḤāfiẓdoesnotinfactrestupontheargumentfrom
authority,whichassertsthehistoricalconnectionofḤāfiẓwiththeSufitradition
throughactualinitiation.Itratherrestsupontheadventitiousandevenserendipi-
tousdiscoveryofinnermeanings,whichbytheirverynaturepointtotheinsightof
thelistenerratherthanbeingdependentupontheintentionofthewriter.
ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry