Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

constitutes Persia’snational lyrical epic, expressive of the Persian people’s

refinedwit,beauty,satire,joyandstruggleforsocialreformation.^86

CollationandCommentariesontheDīvānBeyondPersia’sBorders

Itwasn’tuntilalittleoveracenturyfollowinghisdeaththatḤāfiẓ’sDīvānunder-
went a critical compilation^87 under the tutelage of Prince Farīdun, b. Ḥusayn
Bayqarā(d.915/1509),whocollectedover500manuscriptsscatteredacrosscities
throughoutIslamdomathiscourtandorderedtheformalcollationoftheDīvān,
whichhassincebeenpasseddowninthealphabeticalform(arrangedbyend-
rhyme)knowntoustoday.^88 Inoneofthemanuscriptsfromthiscollectionwritten
byascribenamedShihābal-Dīn‘Abdu’llāhMurvārīd,wefindtheepithet‘Tongueof
theInvisible’(Lisānal-ghayb)attachedtothepoet’snameforthefirsttime.^89
ThefirstcompileroftheDīvānwasafriendofḤāfiẓwholivedinShīrāzunderthe
reign of Sulṭān Abū’l-Fatḥ Ibrāhīm (reg. 817–38/1414–34), named Muḥammad
Gulandām.^90 Inhisshortintroductiontothiscompilation,inoneofthefewutterly
authentichistoricalaccountsofthepoet,GulandāminformsthatḤāfiẓ’sversewas
internationallycelebratedduringhislifetime:^91

Ittookbutaveryshorttimefortheliteraryempireoverwhichhisghazals

reignedtostretchfromtheoutermostbordersofKhurāsānupintoTurkistān

anddownintoIndia.Ittookbutabriefinstantfortheconvoysofhisenchant-

ingspeechtoreachtheoutskirtsofthelandsofIraqandAzerbayjan.The

musicalséancesoftheSufis[samā‘-i ṣūfiyān]withouthispassionatepoems

sooncametolackwarmth;likewise,unlessgracedbyhistastefulspeechthe

convivialbanquetsofkingsweredevoidofallrelish,savourandenjoyment.^92

FromGulandām’sassertionitisclearthatthereisasmuchtruthashyperbolein
Ḥāfiẓ’sboasts:

ThisitinerantPersianverse

senterrantonBengalways

isdeliciousandrichenough

forIndianparrotstocrunch

itsluscious,sugarychunks.^93

Or:

ThoseSamarqandīTurks

andblack-eyedgirlsofKashmir

Alldanceandflaunttheircharms

toḤāfiẓofShīrāz’sverse.^94

ḤāfiẓintheSocio-historical,LiteraryandMysticalMilieuofMedievalPersia 13