Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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[5]EverytipofmyhairhasthousandsofworkswithYou:

We,wherearewe?Andthework-lessblamer,whereishe?

[6]Reasonhasgonemad.Wherearethosedark/musk-scentedchains?

TheHeartof/fromUswentintoretreat.WhereistheeyebrowoftheHeart-

Holder(Friend)?

[7]Wine,musicianandroseareallready,but

LifewithouttheFriendisnotready!WhereistheFriend?

[8] Ḥāfiẓ, don’t be pained by the wind of autumn across the plain of

Eternity/time:

Haveawisethought:say,whereistherosewithoutthorns?

Lines1–2:LostandIndeterminateSubjectandObject–butRichlyEvocativeAudience

Inthefirsttwoopeninglineshere,boththespeakerandtheidentityofthebeloved
Friend,^6 the object of the speaker’s deepest longing, are all kept carefully and
rigorouslyindeterminate–anindeterminacywhichreadilydrawsinandencourages
each reader to read these lines as a strictly personal soliloquy, immediately
substituting the peculiar situation of their own unique experience of love, loss and
nostalgiclonging.However,theaudienceandtimeofthisrecurrentplaintalsosuggest
immediatelyconcreteandundeniablesignsofhopeandpresence:thefirstdawnlight,
andthewind-messengerofthedivineBeloved,withitsfreshspringremindersofthe
realityandproximityoftheGarden.Thesecondline–indeed,likeeachofthephrases
intheopeningverse–continuesthatopeningquestion,butfilledwiththepoignant
reminderofthestillabstractpossibilityofreunion:ofthosetransformingtheophanic
encounters that tauntingly remain, at this moment, either in the mythical past (the
burning bush and Mt. Sinai) or in the still distant eschatological future (each soul’s
‘promisedseeing[ru’yā]’,andultimatemeetingwithGod).Yetthatabstractreminderis
itselfenoughtosuggestandconstitutethatinnerwayandlifelongpathwhichwillbe
revealed and discovered in the rest of the poem. Hence the constant concluding
‘Where?’ refrain already begins to move away from the opening hopeless, helpless
complainttoanascent,morefocusedandhopefulinnerquest.

Lines3–4:TheVoiceofAbstract,GeneralizedReason

In these lines, Ḥāfiẓ suddenly switches to the distant, all too annoying voice of

abstract, detached and universal wisdom – to the familiar most outward (and

equally abstract) ‘narrative’ voice of the Qur’ān, that voice which pointedly speaks

totheindeterminate‘you-all’(‘say’hereisunusuallyinthesecond-personplural).In

the familiar modern imagery of animated cartoons, this reminder of the transient

natureanddualisticconditionsof‘thislowerlife’(dunyā/jahān)istheremonstrative

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry