Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

Toriseatdawnandseekwhat’ssound

AndwholesomeasḤāfiẓhasdone–

AllI’vedonehascomefromthegrace

AndembrasderichesseoftheQur’ān.^129

OtherversesoftheDīvāntestifytoḤāfiẓ’sbreadthoferuditioninavarietyofinter-

pretationsofQur’ānicpassages,particularlyhisunderstandingofthescienceofeso-

teric commentary on the Qur’ān.^130 Writing about a century after his death,

Dawlatshāhclaimedthat‘ḤāfiẓhadnopeerinQur’ānology.Inboththeesotericand

exotericscienceshewasatreasuryofspiritualtruthsandmysteries.’^131 Perhapsthe

mostfamousofḤāfiẓ’sstatementsabouttheQur’ān,whichcontrastshisinspired

breviaryofmysticalEroswiththeformularylitanyofIslam’ssacredscripture,isthis

verse:

Eroscometoyourrescue,evenifyou,

LikeḤāfiẓ,canchanttheQur’ānbyheart

Inallitsfourteendifferentlections.^132

Takingacuefromthisverse,acontemporaryḤāfiẓscholarentitledacollectionof
hisessaysonthepoet‘TheFourteenLections’.^133 Theterm‘fourteendifferentlec-
tions’encompassessome1,100orsoinstances,whetherminorormajor,inthe
Qur’ān,whichcangeneratedifferentreadingsofparticularverses.^134 Thesevariant
lections(calledQirā’ainArabic)werebasedontextualvariantspromulgatedbythe
sevenearliestrecognized‘readers’ofthesecond/eighthcentury,aboveandbeyond
therecensionoftheQur’ānmadebytheCaliph‘Uthmānin30/650,whichwasthe
firstcodified‘orthodox’textoftheMuslimscripture;tothesewerelateradded
sevenother‘readers’,fromwhencetheexpressionthe‘fourteenlections’arose.^135
ByplacingavowelsignoradotoverorunderanArabicletterinadifferentplace,
significantvariationsinthereadingandunderstandingofsuchpassagesoccur.In
thisverse,Ḥāfiẓthusannounceshiseruditioninbeingabletorecitebyheartallthe
textualvariants–bothinsenseandrecitation,fourteeninall–andthedifferent
possible readings which the consonantal Arabic text of the Qur’ān in diverse
instancesaffords.Hisextraordinarypowersofmemorization,evenrareamong
skilledtheologiansspecializinginQur’ānstudies,nodoubtwouldhavecausedhis
contemporariestomarvel.^136
HisabsorptioninIslam’sholyscriptureisalsorepeatedintheprefacetothe
DīvāncomposedbyhisfriendMuḥammadGulandām,whotellsusthatthepoet
devotedmuchofhisfreetimeto‘diligentstudyoftheQur’ān’and‘annotationof
theKashshāf’^137 –afacttowhichḤāfiẓattestsinanotherverse:

Noreciterofscripturewhostandsinthemiḥrāb

OftheFirmamenthaseverenjoyedsuchdelight

AsIhavereceivedfromthewealthoftheQur’ān.^138

ḤāfiẓintheSocio-historical,LiteraryandMysticalMilieuofMedievalPersia 17