Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

Anotherfirst-classPersianghazalpoet,theSufiKamālKhujandī(d.803/1400),was
likeSalmānalsobasedinTabrizandsharedhisethosoflove.Allthreewerewell
acquaintedwithoneanother’spoetryandbelonged‘toacommonliteraryculture,
despitenevermeetingfacetoface’.^45 Kamālwroteabouttwiceasmanyghazalsas
Ḥāfiẓ,aboutafifthofwhich,inmyopinion,rankequalinaccomplishmentwiththe
Shīrāzīmaster.Kamāl’smanyparallelismsinversetoḤāfiẓ’spoems^46 areasimpor-
tanttoPersianliteraryhistoryasthoseofSalmān.HehadlambastedḤāfiẓina
ghazalwritteninreply(javāb)asaparallelpoem(naẓīra)inthesamemetreand
rhymeasonebyḤāfiẓ,boasting:‘AlthoughḤāfiẓmightbearakishcourtierserving
SulṭānAbū’l-Favāris,^47 inthestylisticsoftheghazalhenevermatchedthegeniusof
Kamāl.’^48 Despitesuchliteraryrivalry,relationsbetweenthetwopoetswascharac-
terizedoverallbycordialandfraternalexchanges.^49
AswithSalmān,theunconventionalReligionofLovein‘whichreputeandgood
namearenotallowed’,asKamālsays(echoingḤāfiẓ’smanysimilarstatementsto
thiseffect^50 ),isthemostoft-repeatedrefrainthroughouthispoetry.Theglorifica-
tionofill-fameandthevauntingofnotorietywasinfactoneofthecentraltopoiof
theanti-clericalrepertoireandliterarycounter-culturethatbothpoetssharedin
common:

NeitherofshameamIworried,norofnametakeheed:

Forinmycreed,reputeandgoodnamearenotallowed.^51

Kamālalsoextolsthe‘Canon-LawofLove’(sharī‘at-i ‘ishq),praisingandpreaching
thecontemplationofbeautifulfacesasanactofreligiousdevotion:

Donotcoveryourfacefromthosewho’dgazeonit

ForintheCanonLawofAmor,judgessayitis

Allowedtocontemplatethefacesofthefair.^52

Exactlythesameeroticdoctrine,whichgrantstheloverpermissiontogazeuponhis
beloved’sface,^53 runsthroughSa‛dī’spoems^54 andfillsallofḤāfiẓ’sghazalsaswell.
AnothermajorPersianpoetcontemporarywithḤāfiẓwas‘Imādal-DīnFaqīh
Kirmānī(d.773/1371),oneofthemosteminentSufisofhisage,whoseghazalswere
mostlycomposedduringSufiséancesinthekhānaqāhthathedirectedinKirmān.^55
LaterPersianhagiographershaveseasoned‘Imād’sbiographywithvariouslegends
aboutḤāfiẓ’srivalrywithhim,whichhaverecentlybeencontestedandshowntobe
spurious.^56 Theparallelismsbetweenthetwopoets’ghazalsareinfactsonumerous
thatit’sclearthathisyoungercontemporaryḤāfiẓadmiredhisverseandimitated
himfrequently.^57
Allinall,Ḥāfiẓ,Khwājū,Salmān,KamālKhujandīand‘Imādal-DīnFaqīharestars
sparklingwithinasingleliterarygalaxyofgeniusesinfourteenth-centuryPersia.
TheirpenchantforSufisymbolism,sharingofthesamepoeticrhymes,metres,
imagesandideas(especiallytheiruseofthesamebacchanalianimagery),notto

ḤāfiẓintheSocio-historical,LiteraryandMysticalMilieuofMedievalPersia 9