Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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Myeyes’verylight!Allowmeciteforyou

OneSufibonmot:‘Peaceexcelsresort

Toarmsandisbetterthanhostility.’^221

InthisprofoundlySufiesqueghazaldevotedtothehigherethicsoferotictheology
andidealsofspiritualpoverty,thepoetspurnsallmaterialadvantage,scorning
aughtbuttrustinGod.UsingexactlythesameSufitermselsewhere,^222 hesays:‘Tell
theking,everyone’sdailybreadisalreadyforeordained!’Thus,thepoetscuppers
thepretentionsofrulersofallkingdomswho’dreigninanydominionotherthan
theempireoftheheart,turninghisbackontheboonsoftemporallords.Infact,
thisso-called‘politicalpoem’subvertstheentirenotionofwhatapanegryricissup-
posedtobe.^223
TheMuẓaffarids(‘ThosewhoareTriumphant’)weredisintegratingbothpoliti-
callyanddynastically.Historysoonletthemreapthedragon’steeth–thetraditions
ofparricideandfratricidethatmadethefamilysociallysonotoriousinmedieval
Persia–theyhadsown.Lessthantwodecadeslater,allmembersoftheMuẓaffarid
royalfamilywereextirpatedbythatscourgeofthelatemedievalIslamicworld,
Tamerlane.
NearIṣfahānin789/1387,duringoneofhismilitarycampaigns,Zaynal-‘Ābidīn
fellprisonertoShāhManṣūr,thecousinofShāhShujā‘,whoimprisonedhimand
puthiminchains.^224 Ḥāfiẓ,whobynowhadcometoopposeZaynal-‘Ābidīn,alight-
headed,proudandpoliticallyineptruler,^225 wasdelightedatthisturnofevents,as
canbeseenfromoneghazal.^226
Inthemeantime,Tamerlane,havingestablishedhisgriponTransoxiania,had
beenmakingincursionsintoFars.ShāhYaḥyā,anephewofShāhShujā‘,took
chargeofShīrāzathisbequest.^227 Hemanagedtoholdthecitadelofsaintsforabout
halfayear(late789/1387),duringwhichtimeḤāfiẓ,nowinhislate60sorearly70s,
wroteafamousghazalforhim.^228 Although,unusuallyenough,thepoemdoeshave
verypanegyicalovertones–forits‘exaggeratedmagniloquence’,^229 thepoetwas
rebukedbyacontemporaryhistorian–yetdeeptheosophicalmeaningscanbealso
foundinsomeofitsverses.^230
InNovember,Tamerlanecarefullycollectedandcountedtheheadsofthepopu-
lationhehadjustmassacred(historiansstilldebatehowmanyskullstherewere:
some say 70,000; some say 200,000) in Iṣfahān,^231 erecting 28 sconce minarets
aroundthecitywhichborewitnesstothepsychopathicnatureofhisbrutality.At
theheadofhisarmyofTurkicberserkers,hethenmarchedonShīrāz,wherehe
arrivedinDecember789/1387.
OfḤāfiẓ’spurportedmeetingwithTamerlaneattheendofhislifeweknow
nothing,ifindeeditevertookplace,butevidencefromtheDīvānsuggeststhat
hehadevenlesssympathyforthelimpingconquerorthanhedidforZaynal-‘Ābidīn.
Inafamousversepennedadecadeearlier,^232 Ḥāfiẓhadrecordedhisgriefover
Tamerlane’smassacresandsackingofTransoxiania’scities.DawlatshāhSamarqandī’s
legendaryaccount,writtenacenturylater,ofTamerlane’supbraidingtheagedpoet

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry