Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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Itseemsthatmyfortunewillopenawayformyaffairs,forlastnight

Iwascontinuallypraying,andthetruemornwasbreaking.

Recallnowthatourpoethassaid(373:6:Khandavugirya-yi‛ushshāqzijā’īdigarast/

mīsurāyam bi shab u vaqt-i saḥar mīmūyam[Thelaughterandtearsofthelovers

comesfromsomeotherquarter/Icomposeatnightandweepatdawntide])that

nightisthetimetocomposepoetry,anddawnisthetimetoweep.Here,thetem-

poralsitesseemtobereversed;ferventsupplicationsatnight,andreleaseatdawn.

Orperhapsthisisnotatotalreversal,andtheactofcomposingsincerepoemsisan

earnestformofsupplicationandprayer.Indeed,thepoetsometimesplayswiththis

notionofprayer,deliberatelyunderminingitspiousimplications,ashere,inthe

lastline(line7)ofghazal409:

Shawq-ilab-atburdazyādḤāfiẓ

dars-ishabānavird-isaḥargāh.

YearningforyourlipsmadeḤāfiẓforget

hisnightlylessons,hismorninglitanies.

ItisnotonlytheBeloved’slipsthatbringtheoblivionofforgetfulness.Winemay
driveawaythefearofthedawnofResurrectionDay(260:8):

Piyālabarkafanambandtāsaḥargah-iḥashr

bimayzidilbi-baramhawl-irūz-irastākhīz.

Bindawinechalicetomyshroud,sothatatthedawntideofResurrection

ImaywashfrommyheartwithwinethefearoftheDayofJudgement.

Ofcourse,themorninglibationmaybeanantidotetothehypocrisyofvarious
small-mindedandprosecutorialofficials,andassuchitmaybringsincerityand
thereforeauthenticityandpurity,ifnotalwaysclearanswers(280:3):

Aḥvāl-ishaykhuqāḍiushurbu’l-yahūdishān

kardamsu’ālṣubḥdamazpīr-imay-furūsh.

IaskedtheSagewine-selleratdawnabout

theShaykhandtheJudgeandtheirJewish-drinking.

Thusthewinetavernbecomesthelocus–theruinsontheoutskirtsoftown,where
the non-Muslims drink clandestinely so as not to offend public morality, the
liminal space outside society – while the dawn becomes the poetic moment
whendivineinterventionarrives,allowingwineandrelief,ormysticalintoxication
(479:1):

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry