Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

ghazalsarerepletewiththeimagery,ideas,religiousmythologyandSufiterminol-
ogytakendirectlyfromMaybudī’sgrandQur’āncommentary.^146 Fromthenumer-
ousreferencestohis‘forty’yearsofstudy^147 and‘theporchandarchofseminary
college’(madrasa)and‘thenumbinghumemptychatterofdebate’,^148 weknowthat
hespecializedintheologywhenhewasastudent.Thetheologicaltextsthathe
studiedinthebeginningofthefourteenthcentury,someofwhicharementionedby
Gulandām,werethesupremeclassicsoftheperiod.^149 Beingamemberoftheguild
ofthe‘menoflearning’(ahl-i ‘ilm),throughouthisadultlifethepoetevidently
receivedaregulargovernmentstipend(waẓīfa)forhisteachingandotherprofesso-
rialduties.^150 Ascanbeseenincertainghazals,hewasalsosteepedintheteachings
ofthe‘GreatestMaster’Muḥyīal-Dīnibnal-‘Arabī(d.638/1240),^151 andheboth
imitatedthepoetry^152 andversifiedtheideasoftheAkbariantreatisesofhislatter-
dayfollowerssuchasFakhral-Dīn‘Irāqī(d.1273).^153
Anextantmanuscriptpennedbyhimproveshimtohavebeenafinecalligra-
pher.^154 Shīrāzwasfullofworld-famousprofessorsoftheologyandmastersof
Sufism,manyofwhomḤāfiẓnodoubtwouldhavestudiedunderinthefirsthalf
of the fourteenth century.^155 One of these was his own teacher Qiwām al-
Dīn‘Abdu’llāh,renownedforhisausterepietyandsternoppositiontorationalist
philosophy.^156
AllthefondfantasiesandspeculationsaboutthewomeninḤāfiẓ’slife–wives,
mistresses,girlfriends,harlots–spuninlatercenturiesbythewritersofhistorical
romancesknownastadhkiras(‘memoirs’[ofpoets,scholars,Sufis...])cannotbever-
ifiedbyanycontemporarychronicle.Nohistoricalrecordscontemporarytohim
survivethatwouldfurnishanydetailsaboutthewomenandlovesofhislife.^157
Anyway,aswasnotedsolongago,‘suchdomesticparticulars[arenot]tobe
expectedfromPersianbiographersinviewoftheirreticenceonallmatrimonial
matters’,^158 althoughsomeeminentscholarsstillpersistinasserting,forexample,
thatthefollowinglinealludesinfacttohiswife’sdeath:

Thatfriendwhosepresencemademyhouse

Seemafaerykingdom–ofallfaultsshewasfree,

Herselfoffaerysubstanceheadtotoe.^159

Yet‘thereisnothinginthepoemtoshowthathiswifeisthepersonreferredto’,

as Browne points out.^160 There are other lines in hisDīvānwhere he alludes

apparentlytothedeathofason;otherghazalsseemtoindicatethathehadseveral

children.^161

WearefortunateinhavingaprefacetotheDīvān,theauthenticityofwhichis

acceptedbyscholarstoday,^162 writtenbyaclosepersonalfriendofthepoetnamed

MuḥammadGulandām,whoadmiredandcollectedhispoemswhenḤāfiẓcould

notbebotheredtodoso.Thepoet’spreoccupationwiththeology,aswellasthe

intellectualmilieuandprincelycirclesinwhichhemoved,aretheredepicted

vividly:

ḤāfiẓintheSocio-historical,LiteraryandMysticalMilieuofMedievalPersia 19