Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

222

‘Majnūn’,thenthepoet’simpliedBelovedistheLadyBeloved,moreproperly,the
DivineperceivedbythefaithfulundertheaspectoftheSophianicfeminine–asin
thisverse:

Dawr-iMajnūnguzashtunawbat-imā-st,

Harkasīpanjrūzanawbat-iū-st.

Majnūn’sturnhaspassed,andnowit’smine,

Andeveryfive-daycharacter’sownturn

Uponthisearth.^22

The focus of Majnūn’s mystical meditation is the female manifestation of the
Divinity.Niẓāmī’sfamousnarrativepoemmakesitaslimpidlyclearasmedieval
PersianallegorycanbearthattheLadyLaylīmirrorstheGodhead.WhenMajnūn
throwshimselfuponLaylī’stombattheendoftheromance,thedistraughtlover
explicitlyaddresseshisdepartedBelovedastheDizh-Bānū,‘myLadyoftheCastle’;
thatis,NiẓāmīdeliberatelyassimilatestheArabianBelovedtoanotherofhisown
literarycreations,theLadyoftheRedPavilion(intheHaftPaykarandtheultimate
sourceofPuccini’sTurandot):anallegoryoftheDivinewhohideswithinthefast-
nessofHerfortressastheQueenoftheOtherWorld,andwhochoosesthroughan
icon suspended over Her gate to manifest Herself unto human lovers, posing
throughtheicontheriddleofHercombinedinvisibleTranscendanceandvisible
Immanence,andsodrivesHerloversmadtothepointofcourtingdeath.
ThemysticalimageryofclassicalPersianSufiepic–andlyrical–poetrythuscan
mostdefinitelyconfiguretheDivineBelovedasafemale.Thatthisissoliesbeyond
alldenialinthecaseofNiẓāmī’scelebratedheroinesandtheirliteraryderivatives,
although,inotherpoets,ambiguitylurks,asShabistarīinhisGarden of Mystery
(Gulshan-irāz)sowellputsit:

Hadīth-izulf-ijānānbasdarāzast,

Chishāyadguftazān?K-ānjāy-irāzast.

Longisthestoryofthelovedone’scurls

Andwhatshouldwesaythereof?Therelurksthesecret.^23

Inturn,relentlesslytotranslateḤāfiẓ’s‘Friend’(yār)asamasculineBelovedfinds
justificationsinequivocalPersianneuters,Platonicprecedent,thegrammarof
muchArabicandUrdupoetry,andofcourseonhistoricalgroundsinawarenessof
thetraditionalcivilization’ssegregationbetweenthesexes,andsocialacceptance
ofboy-love(aswiththecelebratedfondnessofSultanMaḥmūdforhispageAyāz^24 ).
Buttoresorteverywheretoexclusivelymalepronounsfliesinthefaceofclearref-
erencestotheLadyLaylī,toQueenShīrīn,oreventotheSīmurgh(alegendaryfowl
notonlyfeminineinAvestic,butinnumerousmedievalIslamicminiaturesthat

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry