Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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inhowskilfullyhecouldparaphrase,imitate,replytoandsohopefullyexcelthose
poetsbyhisoriginalmanipulationofthesamerawmaterials–images,symbols,
ideas,metresandrhymes–thattheyhademployed.Mostoftheghazalsandqaṣīdas
writtenintheAgeofḤāfiẓwerecomposedwithinthisgrandintertextualtradition
ofclassicalPersianpoetry,inwhichthe‘modern’poetswouldattempttooutdo
‘classical’poetsby‘replyingto’(javāb-gū’ī),or‘welcoming’(istiqbāl)or‘following’
(tatabbu‘)theirpoems.^77 Verse-collecting,memorizationofclassicalpoetrywas,has
been,andprobablyalwayswillbethechiefnaturalculturalobsessioninPersianate
societies.^78 This craze certainly characterized Timurid Iran.^79 No matter how
provincialtheircourts,nearlyalloftheTimuridprincesinMongolandTimurid
IrancomposedDīvānsofpoetry.Thosewhodidnotthemselvesversifyweregood
connoisseursofverse,andtheTimuridperiod‘wasnotonlyfullofpoets,artistsand
scholars,butshouldbeaccountedinsomerespectsasoneofthemostglorious
periodsofscienceandart’.^80 InḤāfiẓ’sdayalltheTimuridprincesvyedwithone
anotherinattractingwould-bepoet-laureatestotheircourts.^81 Unlessthepitchand
splendourofḤāfiẓ’slinescouldtranscendthefortissimoeloquenceofthelikesof
Sa‛dīandKamāl,unlesshecouldarticulatewithgreaterepigrammaticprecisionand
expressinwaysmorefierceandoverreachingtheesotericvisionandspiritual
valuesofSufipoetssuchas‘AṭṭārandKhwājū,thefacultiesofeyesandearsofthese
expertconnoisseurswouldceasetobeamazedandhewouldsufferlossofprincely
patronage.Ofcourse,thisneverhappenedtoḤāfiẓ.Quitetheoppositeinfact,ashe
boasts:

OnceLovebecamemytutorintheart

Offinespeech,allmywordsbecame

Keypostulatesofdebateineverycoterie.^82

IfbybaskingintheluminescenceofthisresplendentfirmamentofPersianpoets,

Ḥāfiẓ’sversewasindeedinduedwithlustre,thescintillaoftheirstarryrhymeand

versehassincelargelybeeneclipsedbytheVenusianfireballofhisownDīvān.In

fact,notonlyisḤāfiẓtodayconsideredtobethefairestofstars,lastinthetrainof

nightinthatheavenlycompany,heinhabitsasphereofhisownbeforewhomall

otherpoets–thosewhowroteintheghazalgenreatleast–sitmantledlikechan-

deliersdrownedinfloodlighting.^83 InShīrāz’scitadelofsaintsheranksasthegreat-

estpoet–saveperhapsSa‛dī.^84 ḤāfiẓisnotonlythesupremePersianpoetofthe

fourteenthcentury,butaboveandbeyondthat,asonescholarrecentlyputit,he

has come to be considered as the veritable ‘spokesman of the Collective

UnconsciousoftheentirePersianrace...’85:

AfterFirdawsīandRūmī,Ḥāfiẓisourthirdnationalpoet.Whereasournational

heroicpoemepitomizingthemythologicalhistoryofthePersianscanbefound

inFirdawsī’sBook of Kings,andRūmī’sMathnawīandDīvān-i Kabīr[Shams]

representthenational poetic chronicle of the Persian Sufi tradition,Ḥāfiẓ’sDīvān

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry