Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

216 Ḥāfiẓ and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

throughtheheartandmindandcountenanceoftheecstaticSufiwrithinginunion

withtheDivineuponthecarpetedfloor.

Themosque’sfaithfulunderstandthismystery,andturntheireyesawayfrom

thepreacher,towardstheecstaticdevotee.Inthecomposition’scentre,thekneel-

ingprince,mostprobablyShāhṬahmāsbhimself,withhisturbanwrappedaround

thetypicaltoweringpointedskullcaportāj-iḤaydarī(‘‘Alī’scrown’)favouredbythe

earlySafavids,bendshisglanceinthecorrectdirection.Mostmembersofthecon-

gregationwithsimilarShi‘iteturbanscuptheirhandsinprayer,respectfullyhide

theminthelongsleevesoftheircaftans,orwipetearswithakerchieforshawl,

movedtothedepthsoftheirbeingbythemysticalexperience.Thosewhocannot

contemplatetheMysterydirectlyturntoquestiontheircompanions,whogesticu-

lateinexplanation.Onebeardedandyellow-coatedcharacterinthelowerleftwho

doesthuslookaway,grippinghiswandofoffice,isalmostcertainlythe‘guardian’

orraqīb,astockfigureinclassicalPersianpoemsandpaintingsalike(asinanother

Ḥāfiẓghazal,wheretheacceptedsouldescribesitselfasableto‘passbeyondthe

warden’sforceineverycase’–tavān guzasht zi jūr-i raqīb dar hama hāl),^8 whose

chargeistopreventthoseunworthyfromapproachingroyaltyortheBelovedor,

allegorically,theDivinePresence,despite,here,ayouth’sexplanatorygestures.

Thenagain,thissameguardsman,whohimselfdoesnotmerittolookdirectlyupon

theDivineMystery,contemplatestherefractionofthisDivineMysteryuponthe

youth’shandsomecountenance:fortheyouthfurtherwearsanarcher’sringupon

histhumb,atinydetailwhichimpliesthatthisyouth’sglancecanpiercelikean

arrowstraightthroughtheguardian’sheart.Asthepainterstatesoverthemain

arch,GodalonechoosesuntowhomHeshallopentheMystery’sDoors.

Thewhite-beardedpainterhimself,inastrakhancap,kneelswithfoldedhandsat

thebottomofthepictureinapostureofreverenthumility,justoverhisdiminutive

signaturescrawleduponafloor-tileasifforthefaithfultostepon:amala Shaykh-

Zāda(Shaykh-Zādawrought[this]).Thepainterlistensintentlyasalearnedmaster

–hisownteacherBihzād?,orḤāfiẓhimself?–expoundstohimthemeaningofthe

scene.Shortlyaftercompletingthispainting,Shaykh-ZādaquitSafavidservice,per-

hapsnotfeelingproperlyappreciated,asS.C.Welchsuggests,^9 totakeupresidence

attheSunnīUzbekcourtofBukhārā.

TheillustrationoftheromanticimageryofḤāfiẓ’spoetryinIncidentinaMosquepro-
videsanexcellentintroductiontotheSufisymbolismunderlyinganotherequally
famousminiaturepaintingthatalsobelongstothesamemanuscriptoftheDīvān,
copiedfortheSafavidprinceSāmMīrzā.TothisillustrationofḤāfiẓ’sDīvān,featured
onthebackcoverofthisvolume,arthistoriansgenerallygivethetitleof‘Allegoryof
OtherworldlyDrunkenness’or‘HeavenlyandEarthlyDrunkenness’.Itwaspainted
bySulṭān-Muḥammad,beingapagefromthesamemanuscriptfrom1526or1527
AD.^10 LikeShaykh-Zāda,butanevenmorepowerfulandvisionaryartist,themaster
fromTabrīz,Sulṭān-Muḥammad(whoshouldnowrecognizablyrankinthepublic
eyewithhisexactcontemporariesBosch,Dürer,LeonardoandGiorgioneinthe