IhavesuggestedelsewherethatSufipoetryisnotdefinedbytheauthorsomuch
asbytheaudience.^36 ForareadersuchasDavānī,thepoetryofḤāfiẓexistsona
continuumthatrangesfromSufissuchasḤallājand‘Aynal-Quḍāttothephiloso-
pherIbnSīnā,^37 andtheprofaneAbbasidcourtpoetAbūNuwās.^38 Forhim,itwas
justasnaturalandinevitabletoemployaSufihermeneuticforthepoetryofḤāfiẓ
asitwasforSa‘īdal-DīnFarghānī(d.701/1301),Ṣadral-DīnQunawī(d.752/1351),
or‘Abdal-Ghanīal-Nābulusī(d.1143/1731)towritedetailedmysticalcommen-
tariesontheArabicpoemsofIbnFāriḍ.^39 Davānīisclearlyanadvocateofthesys-
tematicinterpretationofpoetrybyametaphysicalsystemofcorrespondences
basedonwriterssuchasIbn‘ArabīandSuhrawardī,andforthishehasbeencriti-
cizedfornotrespectingtheclearsenseofthetextofḤāfiẓ.^40 WhetherornotḤāfiẓ
wouldhaveappreciatedorapprovedofthephilosophicalandmysticalinterpreta-
tionswhichhavebeenbroughttohisverses,thetestimonyofDavānīmakesit
abundantlyclearthatsuchinterpretationshavebeenpresentamongthereadersof
Ḥāfiẓfromaveryearlydate.
Notes
(^1) EhsanYarshater,‘HafezI.AnOverview’,EIr,XI,pp.464–5.
(^2) FranklinLewis,‘Hafez,VIII.HafezandRendi’,EIr,XI,pp.483–91.
(^3) AusefuloverviewofthemetaphysicalviewsofDavānīwasprovidedinanearlyarticlebyMehmed
AliAyni,‘Notesurl’idéalismedeDjelaleddinDavānī’,pp.236–40.
(^4) RezaPourjavady,‘Kitāb-shināsi-iāthār-iJalālal-DīnDavānī’,pp.81–139;seeespeciallyitemsnum-
bered8–14,pp.90–4,andtheauthor’sremarksonp.91.Oneofthesecommentaries(Pourjavady,no.
8)hasalsobeendiscussedbyTerryGraham,‘HafizandHisMaster’,pp.35–40.
(^5) Jalālal-DīnDavānīKāzarūnī,Naqd-i niyāzī, dar sharḥ-i do bayt u yik ghazal az Khwājah Ḥāfiẓ.
(^6) Ibid.,p.44.
(^7) Seethecommentsontheahl-e waḥdat(‘monists’)inHermanLandolt,‘Nasafī,‘Azīzb.Moḥammad’,
Encyclopaedia Iranicawww.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/sup/Nasafi_Aziz.html.
(^8) Davānī,Naqd,pp.44–5.
(^9) SeeCh.Pellat,‘Kināya’,EI (^2) ,V,pp.116–18.
(^10) Davānī,Naqd,pp.45–7.
(^11) SeeHâfezdeChiraz,Le Divân,trans.Fouchécour,pp.19–20,113–14,160.
(^12) Davānī,Naqd,p.64.
(^13) Ibid.,p.67.
(^14) Ibid.,p.68.
(^15) Ibid.,p.71.
(^16) Ibid.,p.72.
(^17) Ibid.,p.74.
(^18) IntheIslamictradition,Isrāfīlfiguresasanangelofdeath,andinparticulartheangelwhoblowsthe
trumpetontheDayofResurrection.
(^19) Davānī,Naqd,p.76.ThelastsentenceparaphrasesthefamousopeninglinesofthefirstchapterofIbn
‘Arabī’sFuṣūṣ al-ḥikam:‘TheRealitywantedtoseetheessenceofHisMostBeautifulNamesor,toput
itinanotherway,toseeHisownEssence,inanall-inclusiveobjectencompassingthewhole[divine]
Command,which,qualifiedbyexistence,wouldrevealtoHimHisownmystery.Fortheseeingofa
thing,itselfbyitself,isnotthesameasitseeingitselfinanother,asitwereinamirror;foritappears
Ḥāfiẓ and the Persian Sufi Tradition 209