Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

Byzantinetradition).ThetwinarchesoftheLady’seyebrowsaremirroredbythe
archofthemiḥrābwithinwhichshesits,Muḥammadī’ssignificantadditiontoMīrzā
‘Alī’sprototype,drawnfromsomanyPersianateartists’representationsofLaylī.
Withequalmysticalsignificance,theLadycontemplatesasprigofnarcissi,symbols
ofhumaneyes,indeedofHerowneyes,asḤāfiẓsooftenwrites–asinthisopening
ofoneghazal:

Ghulām-inargis-imast-iTutājdārān-and,

Kharāb-ibāda-yila‘l-iTuhūshyārān-and.

Evencrownédkingsareslavestoyourtipsynarcissi,

Thewisestturntavern-wreckedinyourlips’ruby-redwine.^33

Inconclusion,painters,poetsandmysticsinthePersianatetradition,whetherin
IranorIndia,aswehaveseenclosely,mirroreachothers’meaningsanddeserve,
indeeddemand,tobestudiedtogether.Muḥammadī’sLadycontemplatesHerselfin
theNarcissi,liketheGodheadofSufithoughtcontemplatestheDivineSelfthrough
theveryeyesofhumandevotees.Islamictradition,inthought,paintandverse,in
actual and utterly attestable fact (for the paintings bear irrefutable witness)
ascribedthehighestconceivabledignity–Divinemanifestation–tothefemale
principle.Ḥāfiẓ,asaself-proclaimed‘Majnūn’,doessotoo.Suchdignityshouldnot
beobscuredineitherstudiesortranslationstoday.Toquoteanearliercontempo-
raryofḤāfiẓtowhomthepoetofShīrāzowedaconsidableliterarydebt,Khwājū
Kirmānī:

Ziṣūratbibartābima‘nīrasī,/ChūMajnūnshavī,khwudbiLaylīrasī!

Nowthroughtheiconpass!untilyoureachtheMEANING:

BeliketoaMajnūn!Hieyourselfnowandreach

UntotheLadyLaylī.^34

Notes

(^1) ThemainlyconnoisseurlyandstylisticapproachtoPersianartoftwentieth-centuryEuropeanand
Americanscholars(Stchoukine,Pope,Gray,Robinson,Welchandhisschool,etc.)hashelpedclassify
materialsandidentifyindividualartists,indispensabletaskstobesure,butthethreeeminentmod-
ernIranianscholarspointingthewaytoprofounderdeciphermentoftheirownartistictradition–in
lightofitsliterary,royalandreligioussymbolism–havebeenChahryarAdle(interalia,Artetsociété
danslemondeiranien,Paris1982);AssadullahSourenMelikian-Chirvani(interalia,Lechant dumonde:
L’Artdel’Iransafavide,Paris2007);andAbolalaSoudavar(interalia,ArtofthePersianCourts,NewYork
1992).ThiswritercannotoverstatehisdebttosuchmastersandalsotomanyconversationswithDr
RezaFeyzinmyownFigurativeArtinMedievalIslamandtheRiddleofBihzādofHerāt(AD1465–535),New
YorkandParis2004.
Ḥāfiẓ’s Romantic Imagery and Language of Love 225