Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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However,diligentstudyoftheQur’ān,constantattendancetotheKing’sbusi-

ness,theannotationoftheKashshāf^163 andtheMiṣbāḥ,^164 theperusalofthe

Maṭālī,^165 andtheMifṭāḥ,^166 theacquisitionofcanonsofliterarycriticismand

theappreciationofArabicpoemspreventedhimfromcollectinghisverses

andodes,oreditingandarranginghispoems.Thewriteroftheselines,this

leastofmen,MuḥammadGulandām,whenhewasattendingthelecturesof

ourMaster,thatmosteminentteacherQiwāmu’d-Dīn‘Abdu’llāh,usedcon-

stantlyandrepeatedlytourge,inthecourseofconversation,thathe[Ḥāfiẓ]

shouldgathertogetheralltheseraregemsinoneconcatenationandassemble

alltheselustrouspearlsononestring,sothattheymightbecomeanecklace

ofgreatpriceforhiscontemporariesoragirdleforthebridesofhistime.

Withthisrequest,however,hewasunabletocomply,alleginglackofappreci-

ationonthepartofhiscontemporariesasanexcuse,untilhebadefarewellto

thislife...inA.H.791(A.D.1389).^167

ḤāfiẓintheCourtlyMilieuofShīrāz

Asaresultofanumberofstudiesoverthecourseofthetwentiethcenturyby
scholarssuchasQāsimGhanī,MuḥammadMu‘īn,RogerLescot,HellmutRitterand
‘Abdal-ḤusaynZarrīnkūbonḤāfiẓ’srelationshiptothepoliticaleliteandprincesof
Shīrāz,^168 individualversesandsometimesentireghazalshavenowbeenidentified
(withvariousdegreesofcertainty)ashavingbeenpennedasoccasionallyrics–
sometimespanegryrics–toprincesornoblemen,ordirectlypromptedbypolitical
events.SincesomanyworksalreadyexistinbothPersianorEuropeanlanguages
withexcellentaccountsofthelittleweknowofḤāfiẓ’smundanelife,thisprosaic
socio-politicalcontextofhisverseshallnotbemyfocushere,soonlyashort
summarywillbeoffered.
LiteraryhistoriansagreethatmanyofḤāfiẓ’spoemswereoccasionalverse,the
provenanceofwhichcanprobablybetracedbacktothepoliticalvicissitudesand
fluctuatingfortunesofthelastprinceoftheĪnjūdynastyandthesucceeding
MuẓaffaridrulersofShīrāz,whosenamesandreignsareasfollows:

I-nj∑’idDynasty

1.AbūIsḥāqĪnjū(reg.743/1343–753/1353)

MuæaffaridDynasty

2.AmīrMubarizal-DīnMuḥammadMuẓaffarī(reg.754/1353–759/1357)

3.ShāhShujā‘Muẓaffarī(reg.759/1358–786/1384)

4.Zaynal-‘Ābidīn(sonofShāhShujā‘)(reg.786/1384–789/1387).Tīmūrvisits

Shīrāzin789/1387justbeforeZaynal-‘Ābidīnisdeposed

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry